Trama

A police officer uncovers the real identity of his house-guest, an I.R.A. terrorist in hiding.

A thriller about an IRA gunman who draws an American family into the crossfire of terrorism. Frankie McGuire is one of the IRA's deadliest assassins. But when he is sent to the U.S. to buy weapons, Frankie is housed with the family of Tom O'Meara, a New York cop who knows nothing about Frankie's real identity. Their surprising friendship, and Tom's growing suspicions, force Frankie to choose between the promise of peace or a lifetime of murder.—Robert Lynch <docrlynch@yahoo.com>

One of Northern Ireland's top IRA terrorists, Frankie McGuire, escapes to NY, where he, under the name of Rory Devaney, with support of friendly judge Peter Fitzsimmons, lives in the house of Irish cop Tom O'Meara, who doesn't know who Frankie really is. Rory tries to buy some weapons from dealer Billy Burke, while Tom has moral problems covering up the murder of a suspect by his partner cop Edwin Diaz. The problems arise when Tom begins to suspect something about Rory's identity.—Gustaf Molin <gumo@hem2.passagen.se>

In 1972, during The Troubles in Northern Ireland, an eight-year-old boy sees his father gunned down due to his Irish republican sympathies. The family lived on an idyllic Irish farm, isolated from civilization. The gunman barged through the front door and shot the father down while he was having dinner with the rest of his family.

September 1992 sees the grown-up Francis "Frankie" McGuire (Brad Pitt) as an I.R.A. gunman, with a ski mask and an automatic weapon, in a street fight in Belfast. Frankie is already credited with the deaths of 11 regular army soldiers, 7 RUC officers and countless people loyal to the British. In Belfast, Frankie and three fellow IRA members are ambushed by the British Army and Special Reconnaissance Unit agents. Two of the IRA gunmen are killed, but Frankie and his comrade Sean Phelan escape after managing to kill three soldiers, a civilian and four rival loyalists. Hiding in the countryside, he and friend Martin MacDuf (David O'Hara) see a British Army helicopter circling overhead and decide they need Stinger missiles to deal with the overhead threats and to increase the ability to survive of their agents.

Five months later, Frankie, traveling as "Rory Devaney", is picked up at Newark Airport by IRA sympathizer Peter Fitzsimmons (George Hearn), a judge, who has arranged for "Rory" to stay with an unknowing New York policeman, Sergeant Tom O'Meara (Harrison Ford), his wife, Sheila (Margaret Colin), and their three daughters. The judge gives Frankie a handgun. Believing that "Rory" is an immigrant construction worker, Tom and his family welcome Frankie into their home.

Next, Rory meets up with his friend Sean Phelan (Paul Ronan), another I.R.A. gunman, who is enjoying a peaceful life, but he has secured a large fishing boat, which they will sail back to Ireland with the missiles. Rory meets with Billy Burke (Treat Williams), who owns some bars and deals weapons on the black market. He agrees to purchase the weapons with his own money, waiting for Frankie to pay him on delivery in six to eight weeks.

Judge Fitzsimmons has raised the money to pay Burke for the missiles, and he has his family's nanny deliver the bag of cash to Frankie. She is Megan Doherty (Natascha McElhone), the younger sister of one of Frankie's many deceased friends. Frankie hides the bag of cash in the O'Meara's basement. During an Irish celebration of the Confirmation of one of Tom's daughters, Megan phones Rory to tell him Martin MacDuf has been killed and that the deal with Billy Burke has to be put on hold, even though Burke has put out a very large amount of his own money.

Meanwhile, Tom is having problems of his own. One morning he and his partner, Eddie Diaz (Rubén Blades), see a man breaking into a car, and they chase him down the street. He had found a gun in the car and shoots at them with it and then throws it down. Tom stops to collect the gun, but Eddie chases the now-unarmed suspect into an alley and shoots him. In the investigation of the incident, Tom lies for Eddie, who is close to retirement, but he tells Sheila that the guilt makes him decide to retire as well.

When Tom and Sheila arrive home early one afternoon, they find masked intruders. Tom grapples with them while Sheila calls 911. Rory arrives and hits the men with a blunt object, but one of them has a gun and grabs Sheila. As sirens are heard, Tom persuades them to leave, emphasizing no one has been hurt. Even though his bag of cash is still in its hiding place, Frankie knows the thugs work for Burke, and he goes to Burke's office to talk, kneecapping one of his henchmen for emphasis.

Frankie confronts Burke for sending his men to steal the money, shooting one of the attackers in the knee. Burke suggests that Rory talk to Sean and takes Rory to Sean, beaten bloody and gagged in the trunk of a car. Burke tells Rory to get the money to him by that evening, or he'll kill Sean.

Realizing that the intruders were searching Frankie's room in the basement, Tom discovers the bag of cash. Rory returns to the O'Meara's house for the cash, but Tom had already found it. Rory explains to Tom why he is doing what he's doing, but Tom calls Eddie and they arrest him. Driving to the police station, they get stuck in traffic. When Eddie gets out to make a truck driver move his 18-wheeler, Rory kicks Tom unconscious and goes to the trunk to get the bag of cash. Eddie sees Rory and reaches for his gun. Rory, who has Tom's gun, warns him not to draw, but Eddie ignores the warning. Rory kills him but fails to retrieve the money. Rory is forced to flee without the money.

With Eddie dead, Tom is questioned by the FBI and their British counterparts and realizes that they intend to kill Frankie. That night, Frankie meets Burke in a warehouse, where one of Burke's thugs tosses Sean's severed head at Frankie's feet, and Frankie gives them a bag with a bomb that explodes when the same thug opens it. Frankie kills Burke and his men and goes to the Fitzsimmons home to ask Megan to tell the I.R.A. he is returning with the missiles.

Frankie goes to Megan at the Fitzsimmons' residence, determined to complete his mission and deliver the missiles to Ireland. Downstairs, Tom interrupts a cocktail party and confronts the judge, before recognizing Megan from a photo in Frankie's bag, but Frankie escapes. Tom convinces Megan that only he can save Frankie from being killed by the authorities, and she directs him to the boat.

At the dock, Tom sneaks aboard as Frankie sets sail with the missiles, leading to a shootout. Tom is wounded and disarmed, and Frankie prepares to kill him but realizes he too has been shot. Tom embraces a dying Frankie, recognizing that they both were fighting for causes they believe in, before steering the boat back to shore.