Cruise stars as a brash Navy lawyer who's teamed with a gung-ho litigator in a politically-explosive murder case. Charged with defending two Marines accused of killing a fellow soldier, they are confronted with complex issues of loyalty and honor - including its most sacred code and its most formidable warrior.

When a successful African-American author buys a house on an exclusive New England resort island, local law enforcement mistakes him for a thief and nearly kills him in a hilariously bungled attempt to protect the estate. But things go from loony to just plain wacky when the town's Police Chief attempts to cover up the embarrassing details of the event by planting a convicted criminal in the house to take the rap!