Macho maverick field colonel Thomas Devoe (George Clooney) and White House nuclear expert Julia Kelly (Nicole Kidman) team up to save Manhattan from a crazed terrorist who is threatening to blow up Manhattan with one of nine stolen Russian nuclear warheads unless the world pays more attention to the plight of people in Bosnia. First time feature film director Mimi Leder uses her experince helming episodes of the fast-paced NBC medical drama ER to create nonstop action sequences that begin with a train wreck and a nuclear explosion and do not end until the protagonists have chased their quarry around the world. The story's exciting climax occurs on the streets of East Manhattan.