The son of a New York City police officer, Gavin O'Connor serves as director and co-screenwriter of this tale of family, loyalty, and corruption. The NYPD runs in the Tierney family's blood. Francis Tierney Sr. (Jon Voight) is the Chief of Detectives, his son Ray (Edward Norton) is a detective, and his son Francis (Noah Emmerich) is in charge of the precinct where his son-in-law, Jimmy Egan (Colin Farrell), serves. When four officers who work in Francis's house die in a drug bust, Ray, a former wunderkind who has been lying low working on missing persons cases for the past few years, is appointed to investigate. But as he starts to put the pieces together, Ray realizes that all signs indicate there are some dirty police in the city, and worse yet, he may actually be related to some of them. Faced with the toughest decision of his life, Ray has to choose between his loyalty to his family and to the department, and decide what is right.

A stellar cast supports this film, with strong performances from the four lead players and from the supporting actors who portray both criminals and police officers. Voight is the quintessential Irish-American father and cop who has risen through the ranks; he will do whatever it takes to protect his family. Norton and Emmerich play off each other well as brothers who have taken slightly different paths while dealing with their own personal heartaches. Farrell, meanwhile, convincingly plays Jimmy as a loving family man whose choices have led him to the brink of desperation. Lake Bell co-stars as Jimmy's wife and sister to Francis and Ray.