Writer/director Joe Carnahan here deftly manipulates all the clichés of the hard-boiled cop thriller, producing an above-average example of the genre. An impressively moustached Jason Patric is suspended after a drugs surveillance operation ends with him accidentally shooting a pregnant woman. Almost two years later, he reluctantly agrees to be brought back on to the force to investigate the homicide of a colleague, in return for a lasting placement in a desk job. The dead man's partner, played with hair-raising energy by Ray Liotta, seems to be quite willing to break all the rules to get the killer, but Patric begins to suspect his motives and even the circumstances surrounding the cop's murder. While the overfamiliar plot often fails to convince, strong performances from the well-matched leads and the occasional stand-out set piece - the opening chase on foot is a tour de force - still manage to hold the attention.

When the trail goes cold on a murder investigation of a policeman, an undercover narcotics officer is lured back to the force to help solve the case.