Former CIA SAD/SOG officer John W. Creasy (Denzel Washington) comes to Mexico to visit his old friend, Paul Rayburn (Christopher Walken), who runs a security firm in Mexico. Rayburn convinces him to take a bodyguard position, and he is offered one by Samuel Ramos (Marc Anthony), Mexico City automaker. His young daughter Lupita "Pita" Ramos (Dakota Fanning) requires a bodyguard for her kidnapping insurance policy to take effect. There is one kidnapping every 60 mins in Latin America and 70% of the victims do not survive. Lisa Ramos (Radha Mitchell) is Pita's mother, and she has rejected 5 candidates already. Samuel doesn't want to overspend on a bodyguard and wants Creasy hired as he comes relatively cheap due to his drinking problem. Lisa selects Creasy as he is an American. Lisa can sense the sadness in Creasy. Creasy is aloof and keeps Pita at a distance, even though she tries to talk to him. Creasy struggles with alcoholism, burnout, and guilt over his actions with the CIA. When trying to commit suicide, the bullet in his gun misfires. He eventually focuses more on his job, bonding with Pita. Noticing Pita, a swimmer, becomes startled by the starter gun at her swim meets, he begins to coach her. She learns to react to the starter gun, diving into the water without flinching, eventually winning a meet. One day, while waiting for Pita outside of her piano lesson, Creasy notices a car with two men circling the area, and two Federal Police officers block the street. As Pita emerges, he yells at her to run, but she freezes. The car pulls up and the men attempt to grab Pita, but he fires his gun in the air, causing her to run away. Creasy attempts to fend off the attackers, killing three, and wounding a fourth, but is critically wounded himself (he takes multiple bullets front on). Pita runs back to him but is then abducted by the remaining kidnappers. The police arrest Creasy for killing police officers on duty and also for being involved in the kidnapping of Lupita. While recovering from his injuries, AFI agent Miguel Manzano (Giancarlo Giannini) has Creasy relocated to a veterinarian clinic, to protect him from the corrupt police. When he regains consciousness, he is questioned by Manzano, but refuses to divulge any information. He then meets reporter Mariana Garcia Guerrero (Rachel Ticotin), who offers to help him investigate the kidnapping and expose the criminal & Police nexus. Pita's ransom drop (arranged by the Federal Police) fails when the kidnappers are ambushed by rival criminals. The kidnappers' leader, "The Voice," (Roberto Sosa) is enraged at his nephew's death during the botched drop. Holding the Ramoses responsible, he informs Pita's mother Lisa that Pita will be lost to her and Samuel forever as retribution. Creasy uses this to wage war on the kidnapping ring and police corruption responsible for Pita's apparent death. He tracks down, interrogates, and kills the getaway driver (Pita had one day noticed a car following them and taken down its registration number. Creasy gets the number from her diary in her room), followed by middleman "Jersey Boy" (Charles Paraventi) (proprietor of the rave in Neza, who was known to the getaway driver as the Guardian. Creasy gets an ATM card from the Jersey Boy, which is given to him by the Voice, and is used to withdraw $200 per week for expenses. He also reveals that a crooked cop Fuentes stole the money at the drop), and Lt. Victor Fuentes (Jesús Ochoa) (a lieutenant in the Anti-Kidnapping Division of the Federal Judicial Police and the head of the criminal "La Hermandad" syndicate), who coordinated the drop. From Fuentes, Creasy learns most of the ransom money (out of the $10 MM, Fuentes only got $2.5 MM) had been stolen before the ambush at the drop and that Jordan Kalfus (Mickey Rourke), Samuel's lawyer who suggested kidnapping insurance, loaded the money into Samuel's drop vehicle. At Kalfus' home, Creasy discovers that he is already dead and finds a fax with bank account information leading to Samuel. Creasy gives the ATM card to Guerrero to find out who is putting money in that account. Creasy confronts Samuel and Lisa. Samuel explains that Kalfus recommended arranging a kidnapping so he could claim the insurance payout and pay the debts his father had left him alongside a ruined auto empire (Out of $7.5 MM stolen, Jordan kept $2.5 MM and gave $5 MM to Samuel). They were promised Pita would be unharmed. When the drop went bad, Samuel blamed Kalfus for Pita's apparent death, killing him in a rage. Lisa, unaware of Samuel's involvement, angrily tells Creasy to "kill him or (she) will". He leaves Samuel a gun and the bullet he previously intended to commit suicide with. Remorseful, Samuel loads the gun and shoots himself in the head. Creasy learns from Guerrero the ATM card he recovered earlier is linked to a man living on the edge of the city. Manzano's people, acting on Guerrero's information, infiltrate his home, finding a photo of "The Voice". Guerrero runs a story in her paper, revealing the ringleader is Daniel Sanchez. The ATM card belongs to Daniel's wife Maria Rosas Sanchez (Rosa MarÃa Hernández) at the address of Daniel's brother Aurelio (Gero Camilo). Creasy breaks into Aurelio's, taking him prisoner, despite being shot in the chest in the process. He then calls Daniel, threatening to kill his family unless he turns himself in. However, Daniel reveals that Pita is still alive, and offers to trade her for his brother and him. Creasy agrees. Arriving at the overpass meeting place and seeing Pita, he crosses it on foot, meeting her in the middle. He says goodbye, assuring her he loves her before sending her to Lisa. Creasy and Aurelio get into Daniel's car, but he succumbs to his wounds in transit. Meanwhile, Manzano tracks Daniel down and kills him, stating in the official report that Daniel died during the arrest.
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