When Lieutenant Tommy Hart (Colin Farrell), a second year law student, is captured and thrown into a German prisoner of war camp, top ranking Colonel William McNamara (Bruce Willis) assigns him to defend Lieutenant Lincoln Scott (Terrence Howard), a black POW accused of murdering a fellow white prisoner. Hart must struggle against his privileged past to prove that he is a true man of honor, worthy of his rank. In preparing a defense for his client, Tommy stumbles upon a plot that will force him to choose between his country, his own morality and his life.