Roland 'Rollie' Tyler (Bryan Brown) a special effects expert specializing in low budget movies is hired by the FBI to stage the murder of a mobster about to enter the witness protection program. But Rollie is tricked and the staged killing goes wrong. New York detective Leo McCarthy (Brian Dennehy) is investigating the faked murder and Rollie's connection to it and can't understand how uncooperative the FBI are being. Can Rollie use his bag of special effects tricks to ensure his life and freedom and catch the corrupt agents and the gangster who has double crossed him.