Plot
Officer Frank Dooley (John Candy) of the LAPD is framed for the theft of a television set by two corrupt detectives. He is dismissed from the force, but escapes criminal punishment at his day in court. The next case features hapless defense attorney Norman Kane (Eugene Levy) attempting to defend a white supremacist leader, who threatens him with death should Kane fail to keep him out of prison. A fearful Kane reveals his ineptitude to the judge (Stacy Keach, Sr.), who agrees to give the criminal an especially long sentence in exchange for Kane immediately leaving law behind.
Dooley and Kane both apply for work at Guard Dog Security, a low-rent firm run by the gruff Clarence O'Connell (Kenneth McMillan) and part of a security guard's union requiring heavy contributions that is represented by Klepper (Jonathan Banks) and Lazarus (Brion James). Becoming licensed security guards after a single afternoon of training, the pair are made partners by supervisor Maggie (Meg Ryan) and assigned to night duty at a pharmaceutical company's warehouse. After being loudly ordered to take a lunch break by senior guard Bruno (Tom Lister, Jr.), they happen upon an armed robbery of the warehouse and prove no match for the thieves.
The next day, the pair are berated and fined $100 each by O'Connell, leaving them suspicious of the company. They attend a meeting of the union, where Kane pointedly questions union president Michael Carlino (Robert Loggia) about how the union dues are spent following Carlino's rejection of his grievance against Guard Dog. Over the next few days, Dooley and Kane find themselves assigned to work at a landfill and a toxic waste dump.
Convinced something illegal is afoot, the pair track down Bruno at his gym and interrogate him. Bruno states that it was O'Connell who had him order them to lunch the night of the robbery. They bring their suspicions to Maggie, O'Connell's daughter, but she rejects them as having no evidence to back them up. The pair next attend a party thrown by Carlino in hopes of gathering some evidence. Eavesdropping on a meeting between Carlino and union treasurer Lou Brackman (James Tolkan), they learn of Carlino's use of the pension fund to finance dealings with a Colombian drug cartel and his plans to have the money robbed from an armored car and then have insurance cover the loss. Dooley and Kane prove too late to save Brackman from being murdered by Klepper and Lazarus to keep him from talking and find themselves framed for his death.
After a night spent evading pursuers, the pair make plans with a now receptive Maggie to prevent the armored car robbery. Kane and Maggie take over driving the truck, while Dooley will meet them ahead of the would-be robbers. Dooley has problems with his motorcycle and is forced to hitch a ride with The Cowboy (Steve Railsback), a wild trucker who eagerly disobeys traffic laws. Meanwhile, Kane and Maggie must avoid assaults from multiple cars attempting to hold them up. With The Cowboy's help, Dooley is able to arrive in time to save the armored car from a guided missile strike and foil a final attack from Klepper and Lazarus. O'Connell, no longer willing to abide the scheme, arrives having captured Carlino and several of his associates.
The criminals are arrested and Dooley is invited back to the police force, along with a reluctant Kane.
Read more about this topic: Armed And Dangerous (film)
Famous quotes containing the word plot:
““The plot thickens,” he said, as I entered.”
—Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930)
“We have defined a story as a narrative of events arranged in their time-sequence. A plot is also a narrative of events, the emphasis falling on causality. “The king died and then the queen died” is a story. “The king died, and then the queen died of grief” is a plot. The time sequence is preserved, but the sense of causality overshadows it.”
—E.M. (Edward Morgan)
“The plot was most interesting. It belonged to no particular age, people, or country, and was perhaps the more delightful on that account, as nobody’s previous information could afford the remotest glimmering of what would ever come of it.”
—Charles Dickens (1812–1870)