A down-on-his-luck private eye is hired to find a missing femme fatale an ex-girlfriend of a local aspiring politician. However, his trail through the sleazy streets and jazz clubs of Los Angeles uncovers political corruption, racism and murder - and places himself in the line of fire. Thriller set in 1948, starring Denzel Washington, Tom Sizemore, Jennifer Beals and Don Cheadle.

In late 1940s Los Angeles, Easy Rawlins is an unemployed black World War II veteran with few job prospects. At a bar, Easy meets DeWitt Albright, a mysterious white man looking for someone to investigate the disappearance of a missing white woman named Daphne Monet, who he suspects is hiding out in one of the city's black jazz clubs. Strapped for money and facing house payments, Easy takes the job, but soon finds himself in over his head.