Joe, a high-strung, hard-working New York City policeman, finally becomes so frustrated with his demanding and unrewarding job that he robs a liquor store. Afterward, amazed at how simple and satisfying the robbery felt, he confesses to his best friend, police detective Tom. Tom later hosts a party in his suburban backyard, during which a friend who has quit the police force extols the virtues of corporate life and despairs the corruption of the police, prompting Joe to snap defensively that cops like Tom and him are principled, although they could get away with almost anything they desired. Soon after, Joe arrests a woman who stabbed her boyfriend. Upon discovering that she was acting out of fury after catching the man raping her daughter, and knowing the woman will face jail time, Joe is further demoralized. Meanwhile, Tom faces the same disheartenment as he investigates the robbery of a dismissive woman so wealthy that she will barely notice the loss of the stolen goods. One night, Tom suggests that the two abandon their principles and steal something big, worth a million dollars apiece. Over the next few weeks the two discuss possible scenarios, and Tom, the smarter of the pair, concocts a scheme to approach Mafia fence Patsy O’Neill. Disguised, he visits Patsy in the mobster’s home bowling alley and offers to steal anything Patsy wants for $2 million. Patsy, who trusts Tom simply because he is so brash and his idea so straightforward, asks for securities, or treasurer’s bonds. If Tom can steal $10 million worth, Patsy will pay twenty percent. The mobster offers a phone number and code to get in touch with him, then has Tom ushered out and instructs his men to track and identify him. Although two thugs follow Tom into the subway, Joe, in uniform, blocks off the escalator and Tom escapes. Over the following weeks, Tom researches bonds at the American Stock Exchange, then targets a particular Wall Street securities firm to rob. At the same time, Joe is involved in a street shootout in which his partner, Paul Jones, is shot in the leg. Fearful for his own life, Joe tells Tom he wants only to have enough money to move to Saskatchewan and buy a farm. Another night, Joe is again shot at and grows more frustrated when he has to protect his new, inexperienced partner. Tom studies the Wall Street firm’s security system, then announces to Joe that they will carry out the robbery during the upcoming parade welcoming home the astronauts of a recent space trip, at which there will be 150,000 people and hundreds of policemen. On the day of the parade, Tom and Joe, in uniform and wearing fake mustaches, stride into the building and inform the security guard that they must investigate a complaint about items being thrown out the window onto the heads of the parade-goers. Unable to get through the secure doors without an escort, they await senior partner Eastpoole, who reluctantly agrees to bring them in. Having thoroughly investigated the security cameras, Tom has deduced which corridor is out of camera range, and once there, they inform Eastpoole that he is being robbed. The executive coolly instructs his secretary, Ms. Wells, to take Tom to the vault. While a tense Joe watches Tom and Ms. Wells’s progress on a monitor in Eastpoole’s office, the secretary fills Tom’s satchel with securities. Just then, however, two policemen enter and inform the security guard that a messenger has been shot in the building, necessitating a search of everyone inside. Joe aims a gun at Eastpoole and instructs him to allow the search everywhere but his own office. As Tom travels the hallways, he is forced to hide each time a policeman appears, and as a result his return to Eastpoole’s office is so slow that Joe, panicked, is about to shoot the executive. Tom finally appears, however, and after handcuffing Ms. Wells and Eastpoole together, quickly resolves to shred the bonds in order to avoid being searched and arrested by the police. Although Joe is at first horrified, Tom explains that they are “stealing headlines,” not bonds, needing only for O’Neill to believe they stole the bonds. Happily, Joe joins Tom in throwing the shreds out the window, where it mingles with the parade’s confetti. Soon after, Tom hears on the radio that Eastpoole declared they stole $12 million, and realizes that the executive took the other $2 million for himself. Meanwhile, Patsy hears about the robbery and approaches his superior, Mr. Joe, for a loan, explaining that he plans to kill Tom and Joe. Tom is initially afraid to call Patsy, but Joe counsels him that they must go forward, despite the risks. They arrange for the money to be dropped off in Central Park, and upon meeting Patsy’s thugs there, count at least ten men. Tom insists on checking out the baskets of money brought by the thugs, and although the first contains false bundles of cash, the second contains the full amount. Returning to the police car manned by Joe, Tom and Joe consult nervously, while outside the park Patsy continues to try, and fail, to confirm Tom’s and Joe’s true identities. Meanwhile, the police arrive and block off the park exits. Tom calls the thug with the basket of money into the car to “make the switch,” and as soon as the man sits, Joe drives off. Followed by the thugs, Joe careens through the park, slowed by the roadblocks and a group of irate bicyclists hired by Patsy. At one point, the thug jumps out and Tom and Joe seem trapped, until Joe drives through a barrier into a police parking lot, effectively stymieing everyone in pursuit. By the time the police realize what has happened, Joe and Tom have hopped onto a cross-town bus, where they ride for free after flashing their badges. Later, while Patsy is killed by Mr. Joe, Tom and Joe, having decided to lay low for one year, spend the rest of the summer floating in the pool, dreaming of the day they can break free.