In this action thriller, Denzel Washington plays Nick Styles, the assistant
district attorney of L.A. The film opens in his early days as a cop on the
L.A.P.D. During a carnival, master criminal Earl Talbot Blake (John Lithgow)
creates a scene after a botched drug deal. Styles and Blake confront each
other, during which Blake is wounded by Styles and later sent to prison.
Seven years later, Blake escapes from prison during a parole board hearing
to carry out his revenge against Styles, and what follows is a violent series
of events that destroys Styles' career. This sets the stage for one last bloody
duel between Styles and Blake.