on christmas eve in wichita, kansas, mob lawyer charlie arglist (cusack) and crooked businessman and pornographer vic cavanaugh (thornton), gather together $2 million they have stolen from their boss, mobster bill guerrard (quaid). while it initially appears that there will be an easy getaway for the pair, they learn that the roads out of the city are too icy to drive on. vic takes the cash for safe-keeping and they split up and try their best to evade being captured by guerrard and his men, who have discovered their scheme.