Kate Miller (Angie Dickinson) visits her psychiatrist Dr Elliot (Michael Caine) and talks about the lack of fulfilment in her sex life. On the way home, she meets an anonymous man, has sex with him, and is then attacked in an elevator by a mysterious blonde woman. The one witness to the attack is prostitute Liz (Nancy Allen), who subsequently joins forces with Kate's son Peter (Keith Gordon) in an attempt to catch the culprit.

Kevin Costner stars as Eliot Ness, an idealistic Treasury official who vows to bring an end to Al Capone's (Robert De Niro) corrupt hold over Prohibition-era Chicago. To this end, Ness puts together an elite team of law-enforcement officers (played by Sean Connery, Andy Garcia and Charles Martin Smith), and begins making bold strikes at Capone's bootlegging operation. Nevertheless, Capone's empire continues to thrive, and Ness realises that he must try a different approach. Brian De Palma directs, from a David Mamet screenplay, and Sean Connery won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his efforts.