At a bistro in Montmartre, Irish operative Deirdre meets with American mercenaries Sam and Larry, and French mercenary Vincent. She takes them to a warehouse, where fellow mercenaries, the Englishman Spence and Gregor, a German, are waiting. Deirdre briefs them on their mission; to attack a heavily armed convoy and steal a large, metallic briefcase. As the team prepares for the task, Deirdre meets with handler Seamus O'Rourke, who says the Russian mafia is bidding for the case and that the team must intervene. After Sam exposes Spence as a fraud and dismisses him, the others leave for Nice. During a stakeout, Sam and Deirdre develop an attraction to one other. On the day of the sale, Deirdre's team ambushes the convoy at La Turbie and pursues the survivors to Nice.
After a gunfight, Gregor steals the case and disappears. He sells it to the Russians but his contact attempts to betray him. Gregor kills that man, then contacts Mikhi�the Russian mafioso in charge of the deal�-and makes Mikhi agree to another meeting. The team tracks Gregor through one of Sam's CIA contacts and corners him in the Arles Amphitheatre, where he is meeting two of Mikhi's men. Gregor flees and is captured by Seamus, who kills Larry and escapes with Deirdre. Sam is shot while saving Vincent's life and is taken to a villa owned by Vincent's friend, Jean-Pierre. After removing the bullet and letting Sam recuperate, Vincent asks Jean-Pierre to help them find Gregor and the Irishmen.
In Paris, Gregor is violently interrogated and persuaded to lead Seamus and Deirdre to a post office, where they retrieve the case. Sam and Vincent pursue them. A high-speed chase ensues; Vincent shoots Deirdre's tire and sends her car under an unfinished overpass. Sam and Vincent fire at Gregor, who takes cover behind the flipped car, which is set ablaze by the gunfire. Gregor flees with the case while road workers rescue Deirdre and Seamus from the burning vehicle. Sam and Vincent decide to track down the Russians; one of Jean-Pierre's contacts tells them they are involved with figure-skater Natacha Kirilova, Mikhi's girlfriend, who is appearing at Le Z�nith.
During Natacha's performance that night, Mikhi meets with Gregor, who says a sniper in the arena will shoot Natacha if Mikhi betrays him. Mikhi kills Gregor and leaves with the case, and the sniper kills Natacha. Sam and Vincent leave the arena in time to see Seamus shoot Mikhi and steal the case. Sam finds Deirdre waiting in the getaway car; he tells her to leave, revealing himself as a CIA agent pursuing Seamus and not the case. Deirdre drives away, forcing Seamus to return to the arena with Sam in pursuit. Seamus ambushes Sam but is shot dead by Vincent.
Sam and Vincent later talk in the bistro where they first met, where a radio broadcast announces that a peace agreement between Sinn F�in and the British government has been reached, partially as a result of Seamus' death. Vincent convinces Sam that Deirdre will not be coming back. Sam drives off with his CIA contact. Vincent pays the bill and leaves.
