American soldier Ray Elwood leads a comfortable life in Cold War Germany, selling everything from cleaning products to heroin on the black market, with his weak-willed commanding officer blissfully unaware. However, everything changes when a tough new sergeant arrives determined to clean up the base, while a profitable arms deal and the new arrival's teenage daughter only complicate matters further. Black comedy drama, with Joaquin Phoenix, Ed Harris, Anna Paquin and Scott Glenn.

A criminal subculture operates among U.S. soldiers stationed in West Germany just before the fall of the Berlin wall.