Vincent LaMarca (Robert De Niro) is a New York police detective assigned to investigate the murder of a drug dealer, a case in which his son Joey (James Franco) soon becomes the chief suspect. When the media find out about this, they zero in on Vincent's position, emphasising the fact that his father was also a convicted killer. This news comes as a shock to his girlfriend Michelle (Frances McDormand) and she decides to leave him; meanwhile, his superiors decide that he should be suspended from the case. With his life in tatters, Vincent now decides to focus on the one thing he has left, and tries to bring Joey in safely.