SFPD Inspector Scott Roper (Eddie Murphy) is the best hostage negotiator in his department. He is called in to deal with a bank robber, Earl (Donal Logue), demanding a getaway vehicle and police escort. He manages to defuse the situation, shooting Earl non-fatally in the shoulder and rescuing his 17 hostages.
That night, Scott accompanies his friend and former partner Sam Baffert (Art Evans) to the apartment of Michael Korda (Michael Wincott), a jewel thief involved in Baffert's investigation. When Sam questions Korda about his involvement, Korda stabs him to death and leaves his corpse inside an elevator for Scott to find. Despite demanding to go after Korda, Captain Frank Solis (Denis Arndt) refuses to let him take the case due to the probable conflict-of-interest. Scott resolves to bring Korda to justice, but in the meanwhile must adjust to his new partner, SWAT sharpshooter Kevin McCall (Michael Rapaport).
Scott and Kevin are called to a hostage situation at a downtown jewelry store, with Korda as the hostage taker. When Scott and Korda see each other, the latter grabs a hostage and makes a getaway in a truck. Scott and Kevin use Solis' car to pursue him. Korda wrecks the truck, and boards a cable car, shooting the operator. Scott and Kevin manage to stop the cable car and chase Korda into a parking garage, where they apprehend him.
During visitation at the jail with his cousin Clarence Teal (Paul Ben-Victor), Korda orders Teal to kill Ronnie (Carmen Ejogo), Scott's girlfriend, as a way to seek revenge on Scott. Teal attacks Ronnie at her apartment, but Scott intervenes and chases Teal down the fire escape, where the latter is struck and killed by a passing car. An angry Scott visits Korda in jail and warns him to stay away from Ronnie, showing him an autopsy picture of Teal, which enrages Korda.
The next morning, Korda escapes from the jail and kidnaps Ronnie, leading Scott and Kevin into a confrontation at an abandoned shipyard. Korda threatens to kill Ronnie by decapitating her on the cutting machine she is pinned to if Scott doesn't follow his instructions. Korda charges toward Scott in a sports car, but is shot from a vantage point by Kevin, causing him to swerve and crash through the warehouse entrance. Scott frees Ronnie, while Kevin engages Korda in a shootout where the former is shot in the abdomen. Korda tries to escape in Scott's truck, but Scott fights for control of it and leaps out of the way as Korda rams into a stack of explosive barrels and is killed in a massive explosion.
The movie ends with Scott and Ronnie relaxing on vacation at a Tahitian beach resort.
