A bounty hunter pursues a former Mafia accountant who is also being chased by a rival bounty hunter, the F.B.I., and his old mob boss after jumping bail.
Bounty hunter Jack Walsh (Robert De Niro) is sent to find and return bail jumper and former Mafia accountant, Jonathan "The Duke" Mardukas (Charles Grodin). The FBI has had no success in locating The Duke, so when Jack finds him in next to no time, they are a little embarrassed. In order to collect his $100,000 fee, Jack must take The Duke from New York to Los Angeles. However, the Mafia and the FBI have other ideas, as does Marvin Dorfler (John Ashton), a rival bounty hunter. On their long cross-country trip to LA, the two get to know each other and they build up a strange friendship.—Rob Hartill
Jack Walsh (Robert De Niro) is a tough bounty hunter has to deliver Jonathan "The Duke" Mardukas (Charles Grodin), who embezzled $15 million from the Mob, but the FBI is after The Duke to testify - the Mob is after him for revenge - and Walsh is after him to just shut up. Will they survive each other and all the other pursuers to a happy ending?—Benjamin Boey
Jack Walsh is a Los Angeles based bounty hunter. It's a job he hates, he a former Chicago police officer who was, if rumors are true, run out of town by mob boss Jimmy Serrano. The reasons for his release from the force led to the dissolution of his marriage, his wife and daughter who he has not seen in nine years but who he still loves. Eddie Moscone, a bail bondsman for who Jack often works, convinces him to pick up a specific bail jumper, Jonathan Mardukas, whose whereabouts are unknown. Although Jack negotiates a lucrative contract with Eddie for this job - Eddie who will lose his business if Jonathan is not brought in within five days - Eddie believes Jonathan having been Serrano's accountant should be enough of a drawing card for Jack, Jonathan who embezzled $15 million from his mob boss. Using some contacts and a stolen ID, Jack is able to locate and capture Jonathan on the first day in New York. Out of circumstance, Jack and Jonathan are forced to travel by the proverbial planes, trains and automobiles to get back to LA as many others are also on their tail trying to get their hands on Jonathan. They include: Alonzo Mosely, an FBI agent, and his associates, who have been leading an operation against Serrano for several years; Serrano and his men who do not want to see Jonathan testify in court; and Marvin Dorfler, a rival bounty hunter who Eddie also hires just in case Jack fails, there being no love lost between Jack and Marvin. Some try to persuade Jack to give Jonathan up, using the "carrot" of more money than Eddie would be paying, while others have their own moles to be able to follow Jack and Jonathan's whereabouts as they snake west across the country. But the biggest obstacle in Jack getting Jonathan back to Los Angeles within five days may be mild mannered Jonathan himself. Beyond knowing he is an easy target for Serrano if he is in prison and thus who does whatever he can can either to persuade Jack not to turn him in or elude him, Jonathan, based on differences in personality with Jack including having a multitude of phobias, may drive Jack crazy and crazier the longer they are within each other's company.—Huggo
A bounty hunter, Jack Walsh, is tasked with tracking down a bail jumper for a large fee. The man he is tracking is the accountant of a major mob boss, a mob boss he had a run in with when he was a policeman in Chicago. It is soon apparent that tracking down the accountant is the least of his worries: the mob and the FBI are also after him.—grantss
Jonathan "The Duke" Mardukas (Grodin) is an accountant who embezzled $15 million from Las Vegas gangster Jimmy Serrano (Dennis Farina) and skipped bail. He is hiding in New York when his Los Angeles bail bondsman, Eddie Moscone (Joe Pantoliano), hires bounty hunter Jack Walsh (De Niro) to bring the accountant in. To get the $100,000 bounty, Jack needs to get "The Duke" back to L.A. before midnight on Friday, or Eddie forfeits the $450,000 bail and faces bankruptcy.
The FBI, led by Special Agent Alonzo Mosely (Yaphet Kotto), wants Mardukas under arrest to build their case against Serrano. Alonzo warns Jack not to interfere with his plans, but Jack, under the pretense of accepting, pays no attention, and instead pinches Mosely's identification. Serrano, meanwhile, suspects that Mardukas has access to financial information that could lead to his conviction. Additionally, that information would implicate Serrano and his ties to other mobsters, which could jeopardize his life if exposed. As a result, Serrano intends to have Mardukas killed before he can testify against him in open court.
After apprehending Mardukas in Manhattan, Jack is unable to take him to L.A. by plane due to Mardukas' professed fear of flying, which gets them thrown off their transcontinental flight. The pair embark on a wild cross-country chase (with Mardukas even temporarily piloting a plane, proving that his fear of flying was a ruse), relying on various unreliable modes of transportation, all the while dodging the FBI and Serrano's henchmen Tony (Richard Foronjy) and Joey (Robert Miranda). Moscone also hires rival bounty hunter Marvin Dorfler (John Ashton) as insurance in case Jack is unable to deliver Mardukas, but offers him $25,000, claiming he offered the same to Walsh.
Throughout their journey, Walsh and The Duke bicker constantly, due to the clash of Walsh's rough-hewn personality and Mardukas' habit of nagging. Much of the movie involves Mardukas' sincere effort to uncover the truth about his captor, a person he suspects is actually a decent man beneath his cynical and embittered exterior. He eventually learns that Jack was a former Chicago undercover detective who refused to go on the take of a heroin dealer he was building a case against. He was then drummed out of the force after being framed for heroin possession by corrupt colleagues and driven out of Chicago, his marriage ended and he became estranged from his family. His ex-wife ended up remarrying one of his colleagues, now a captain, whom Jack insinuates was one of the corrupt members of the force. Jack has not seen his daughter since she was a little girl, and has since then lost all faith in the law, explaining his profession as a bounty hunter. As the plot unfolds, it turns out that the heroin dealer responsible for Jack's framing was Jimmy Serrano himself. Jack, for his part, wants to see the job done so he can retire and open a coffee shop with his promised $100,000 bounty, aware that in doing so, he will most likely be helping Serrano avoid prison. He also has a keen sense of propriety and refuses a bribe from Mardukas, as well as a large cash offering from Serrano's camp in exchange for turning Mardukas over to them.
After making it as far as Arizona, the two are chased by dozens of police cars. They narrowly dodge the police, but Mardukas is captured by Dorfler. Finally figuring out that Moscone cheated him and how much The Duke is actually worth, Dorfler decides to give him up to Tony and Joey for $1 million. However, Dorfler inadvertently reveals where he is keeping the fugitive, and is knocked unconscious. Mardukas is captured by Serrano's men, and Dorfler, defeated, decides to go home.
Walsh, meanwhile, is finally found by Mosely and his men, and taken into custody. An enraged Walsh calls Moscone and furiously berates him for hiring Dorfler as insurance. Moscone, however, reveals that Dorfler is not delivering The Duke to him, and Walsh realizes that Dorfler has delivered Mardukas to Serrano. Walsh calls Serrano's men and tells them that Mardukas gave him computer disks with enough information to put Serrano away (earlier, Mardukas had informed Walsh that he intended to backup files on to disks but never did). Walsh threatens to turn the disks over to the FBI unless Serrano himself returns The Duke to him at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. Walsh tells Mosely and the FBI of his plan to deliver Serrano to them (even though the disks to be used in the sting are blank, Serrano's taking possession of them would be enough to indict him for conspiring to destroy government evidence and obstruction of justice), but will only carry it out if he is allowed to return Mardukas to Moscone personally and collect his money. Mosely, since his primary target is Serrano, accepts Walsh's proposal.
At the airport, Serrano and Walsh confront each other for the first time since Jack left Chicago. The exchange is interrupted by Dorfler, who sees the exchange going on, not knowing that the FBI are watching and waiting for Serrano to take possession of the disks. Jack, whose microphone wire gets knocked out by Dorfler, yells to the FBI that Serrano has the disks. The FBI move in, arresting Serrano, his men, and Dorfler.
Mosely makes good on his deal with Jack, turning Mardukas over to the bounty hunter. Jack flies the Duke back to LA and calls Eddie Moscone at the airport, telling him he has Mardukas in L.A. before the deadline - but he is letting him go, hanging up on a ranting Moscone. Before Jack can leave, they exchange gifts - Jack hands The Duke his broken watch, and Mardukas hands Jack a money belt he had hidden on his person throughout the film, filled with $300,000 in $1,000 bills: he was planning on leaving before Jack showed up, so he didn't have time to use the money. The two part as friends. Mardukas then disappears, and Jack tries to get a cab. However, since the driver doesn't have change for a thousand dollar bill, he zips up his leather jacket and pulls up his collar, preparing to walk home.
