Charles Schine (Clive Owen), is an advertising executive. His marriage to Deanna (Melissa George) is deteriorating, and his daughter
Amy (Addison Timlin) suffers from diabetes, requiring expensive
medication. Charles's story is being written down by an unidentified
man in a prison cell.
On a commuter train, Charles encounters an alluring woman named
Lucinda Harris (Jennifer Aniston). She is a married financial adviser.
The two show each other photographs of their respective daughters and
begin to talk. A mutual attraction develops, and the two begin meeting
frequently. Ultimately, they decide to consummate their affair and
wind up in a seedy hotel. An armed man—later identified as Philippe
LaRoche (Vincent Cassel)—bursts into the hotel room, beats Charles,
and brutally rapes Lucinda. Charles and Lucinda agree not to report
the crime, as they do not want their spouses to learn of the affair.
Shortly after, Charles is blackmailed by LaRoche, who threatens to
kill his family if he does not pay $20,000, which Charles promptly
pays. A month later, the attacker calls again, this time demanding
$100,000.
Charles explains his situation to Winston (RZA), an ex-con who works
as a repairman in his building and whom Charles had earlier
befriended. Winston offers to scare off LaRoche for ten percent of the
payout. Charles agrees and embezzles the money from his company. He
and Winston travel to the meeting location specified by LaRoche,
intending to get the drop on him. However, before they can act,
Winston is shot and killed. LaRoche appears and takes the money,
leaving Charles to dispose of the body. Afterwards, Charles is
questioned by detective Franklin Church (Giancarlo Esposito) about
Winston's murder. Later, Charles receives a call from LaRoche who
claims that he will kill Lucinda if Charles doesn't deliver the
$100,000. Charles takes the money from an account meant for his
daughter's medical treatment and makes the payoff.
The next day, Charles stops by Lucinda's company to ask to see her and
is introduced to the real Lucinda Harris. The woman he met on the
train is identified as Jane, a temp who had worked there briefly. He
goes to Lucinda's apartment, which he realizes is actually in the
process of being rented out. Seeing that Lucinda's photograph of her
daughter was actually a cut out of a stock picture in a brochure,
Charles realizes Jane was in on the scam. He tracks her down and sees
her kissing LaRoche. Determined to retrieve his stolen money, he
follows Jane's moves and sees that she is seducing another
unsuspecting businessman (David Morrissey). He rents a room in the
same hotel where Jane, LaRoche, and their partner Dexter (Xzibit) set
him up and awaits them as they snare their new target. Jane and the
businessman go to the room, but Charles knocks LaRoche unconscious
before he can follow them. Charles breaks in and demands the return of
his money. A gunfight ensues, and everyone is shot but Charles, who
watches Jane die. Charles, while in his rented room, is cleared by the
police near the crime scene. As he leaves the hotel lobby, the
continued investigation has all contents from the hotel safe laid out
on the front desk. Charles casually identifies his briefcase, which
still contains his money, and quietly leaves the hotel.
Charles is later accused by his boss Eliot (Tom Conti) of stealing
money from the company, and he is arrested for embezzling the $10,000
that he paid Winston and is sentenced to six months of community
service, teaching in a prison. During one of his classes, he comes
across the story about him written on one of the students papers. The
unknown writer instructs him to go to the laundry room. There, Charles
finds LaRoche, who survived the gunfight. LaRoche threatens to
continue to disrupt Charles's life, but Charles reveals that he has
planned the encounter. He produces a shank, which Winston had given
him, and stabs LaRoche to death. As Charles leaves, he encounters
Detective Church who indicates that he knows LaRoche killed Winston.
While Church suspects Charles of killing LaRoche, he lets him return
to his family, where Charles reconciles with his wife and daughter.
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