Alex Kearney (Anthony Edwards) is a suburban cop who gets into trouble-Deep trouble-working strictly by the book. Detective Dennis Curren (Forest Whitaker) doesn't have much use for the book except when he's throwing it at the pushers, muggers and murderers who make his inner city beat the most dangerous part of downtown. Thrown together when Alex is sent downtown in an undeserved disciplinary action, the two cops seem to have about as much in common as the Beach boys and a rap group-. Then Alex's former partner is viciously murdered during a bust, and Alex and his unlikely new partner find themselves bound to each other by a single minded determination to bring the killers to justice.