The film starts with a young woman (Franklin) on an airplane and a stewardess, Vi (Moreno) bending over her. As she leaves, we see a chauffeur, Bud (Brando), saying something to her which we do not hear. He puts her in the back of a Rolls-Royce and drives off. They stop at a junction and Leer (Boone) gets in. The girl realises she has been kidnapped.
Bud starts to have second thoughts. He tries to protect the girl when Leer gets out of control. Bud also has to deal with a lack of courage in himself, with the head of the operation and Vi, who uses drugs and cannot be trusted.
Then things start to unravel. Leer kills all his partners in crime on their return with the ransom, the car catching fire. Bud, perhaps anticipating this betrayal, gets out early. Hiding on the beach, he is able to exact revenge and shoots Leer as he signals to a ship waiting to take him from the country.
All is revealed to be a dream during the girl's flight, sparked by Vi, the air hostess. But then the girl meets Bud in the airport just as in the dream...