Moscow's toughest detective. Chicago's craziest cop. There's only one thing worse than making them mad. Making them partners.

Captain Ivan Danko (Arnold Schwarzenegger) nicknamed "Iron Jaw" is a ruthless cop who heads Moscow's homicide division. He is sent to Chicago to pick up a Russian drug-dealer, arrested on a minor traffic violation. In Chicago, Danko is assigned to partner with Detective Art Ridzik (James Belushi), a wisecracking, plain clothesman notorious for cutting corners. Different people from different cultures, Danko and Ridzik Work closely together and develop a unique relationship laced with humur and respect. The chase leads them into a world of international drug trafficking controlled from within the walls of Statesville Prison and puts Ridzik in conflict with his superior, Commander Donnelly (Peter Boyle), as the two renegade cops alternate police procedure "Russian Style" with Ridzik's free-enterprising techniques.