Agent Nathan Muir (Robert Redford) is about to retire from the tense world of the CIA. On his last day, however, Muir is hit with the news that his former protégé and friend, Tom Bishop (Brad Pitt), has been captured by the Chinese and will be executed within 24 hours. The CIA has written his rescue off as too risky, so Muir takes on the task himself. But he needs more information to save his pal, and to get it, he ingratiates himself with the top brass, describing in a series of slow-moving flashbacks how he worked with Bishop in the past, pointing out Bishop's tendency to get too involved with his "assets," the people he befriended to get to the bad guys. As the investigation deepens, Muir discovers that Bishop is considered expendable by his superiors because of his maverick ways, and the story becomes a race against time as Muir tries to save his friend by outsmarting those working against him.