Plot
Matthias "Matt" Lee Whitlock (Denzel Washington) is the respected chief of police in the small town of Banyan Key, Florida. He has recently executed a successful, high-profile drug bust that turned up $450,000 in drug money.
Although he enjoys his job, his drinking while on duty is an obvious character flaw, exacerbated by his pending divorce from his wife, homicide detective Alex Diaz Whitlock (Eva Mendes). Matt is currently seeing local resident Anne Merai Harrison (Sanaa Lathan) -- whose husband Chris (Dean Cain), a former professional quarterback turned security guard, abuses her.
Matt's friend, Chae (John Billingsley), a medical examiner, jokingly wants them to use the $450,000 to go into business together. Matt, however, finds out that Anne has just been diagnosed with terminal cancer.
Anne intends to reward Matt's loyalty to her by making him the sole beneficiary of her $1,000,000 life insurance policy. Matt tries to find a way to give Anne some hope and suggests that she should travel to Switzerland to undergo a newly-developed treatment. The problem is that Anne has been living beyond her means and does not have any money. Desperate to help her, Matt bends the rules and loans her the $450,000 so she can make the trip.
When the $450,000 goes up in flames in a suspicious house fire that kills Anne and Chris, however, Matt finds himself in a great deal of trouble. Not only is the money now gone, but Matt knows that even though he is innocent, circumstantial evidence—such as the insurance policy and the fact that he had been seeing Anne—could make him the prime suspect.
With the Drug Enforcement Administration soon arriving to pick up the now lost cash, and Alex serving as the lead detective in the homicide investigation, Matt races to stay ahead of his own police force and everyone he's trusted. He has to prevent anyone discovering his connections with Anne so that he can figure out what really happened before he himself falls under suspicion.
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““The plot thickens,” he said, as I entered.”
—Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930)
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—John Ashbery (b. 1927)
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—Mark Twain [Samuel Langhorne Clemens] (1835–1910)