When a young wise guy who moonlights as a stuntman is killed, hit man Eric O'Byrne (Matthew Modine) is called in to kill Lance Cooper (James Caan), the film director blamed for the young man's death. While infiltrating Cooper's world, Eric becomes enamored of both the stuntman's lifestyle and Cooper's doctor daughter (Joey Lauren Adams). Before long, Eric discovers that the man he was supposed to kill has become his friend, forcing him to make a possibly deadly choice between the Coopers and the mafia.