Deputy Chief Francis Tierney (Jon Voight) is the head of a multigenerational police family, which includes his sons Francis, Jr. (Noah Emmerich), Ray (Edward Norton), and his son-in-law Jimmy Egan (Colin Farrell) all being police officers. When four of Francis Jr.'s guys are killed during a shootout turned bad, everything looks straight initially. However, Ray, who is assigned to the investigation, soon discovers something more sinister.