Once, San Francisco cop Jay Austin (Mark Harmon) served as an officer under Lt. Colonel Alan Caldwell (Sean Connery) who now provost marshal of the military police at the base called The Presidio. The relationship is not a warm one, and becomes even more charged when they are forced to work together on a murder case involving a female MP, an on base break-in, and then a chase in the streets of San Francisco that results in a civilian cop being shot. To strain their relationship further, Jay becomes romantically entangled with Caldwell’s daughter Donna (Meg Ryan). Civilian and military law enforcement working together is always problematic, but there are dark undertones of old conspiracies going back to Vietnam, and even CIA involvement. Caldwell has to deal with both his perception of Austin as a troublemaker and hothead from their military experience, and the issues of dealing with civilians he cannot control. The love affair with his daughter puts her at risk as well from the dark and mysterious players in the crimes. Predictable stakeouts, shoot-em-ups and car chases add to the formulaic crime drama.
