Narra la historia de Ray Tierney (Edward Norton), un detective de la policía que investiga homicidios, tres generaciones de su familia han sido policías de la ciudad de Nueva York. Un día se le encarga la tarea de resolver un caso en el distrito controlado por Francis Tierney JR (Noah Emmerich), su hermano mayor. A medida que pasa el tiempo, Ray comienza a sospechar de que la corrupción abarca todo lo que el conoce, incluso puede que su gran amigo Jimmy Egan (Colin Farrell) sea parte del escándalo.

A family of police officers - patriarch, two sons, and a son-in-law - deals with corruption in a precinct in Washington Heights. Four officers die in an ambush at a drug dealer's apartment. It's brother Francis's precinct, so when the investigation led by brother Ray finds hints of police corruption, there's pressure to close ranks and save Frankie's career. Dad, a police brass, promises Ray that he and Frankie can clean things up, and Ray should focus on catching the drug dealer who killed the cops. Meanwhile, brother-in-law Jimmy, a hothead and an enforcer, is visited at home by a lowlife. Is Jimmy involved in the corruption? Where can this take the family?