Johnny Gallagher, a US Army Green Beret Master Sergeant (Gene Hackman), is in charge of a unit on patrol in West Berlin, while the US President and the Soviet General Secretary of the Communist Party are starting talks for mutual nuclear disarmament. However, some within the military are against such negotiations, and the film develops from there into a vintage political thriller. The setting is the Cold War, c.1980-1985. (The Soviet leader looks rather like Mikhail Gorbachev.) As the story progresses, J Gallagher is ordered to escort an Army sergeant, Walter Henke (Tommy Lee Jones), from West Germany back to the USA for court martial. But who is, precisely, W Henke?
This is a good film, well-made and full of suspense, structured around an alleged conspiracy at the highest level, within America's 'deep State'. In some ways, the film follows a well-trodden path and it would be excessive to call it a masterpiece of the genre. Having said that, it is very enjoyable entertainment, more particularly if you like that kind of storyline, and both Gene Hackman and Tommy Lee Jones are excellent, as always.