Plot

A legendary bouncer comes to restore order at a notorious bar but runs afoul of a ruthless crime boss who controls the town.

Serene and laconic but powerful and lethal, expert martial artist Dalton is the best professional bouncer in the business. With his reputation preceding him, Dalton arrives in Jasper, Missouri, to clean up The Double Deuce, a seedy bar terrorised by troublemakers. However, Dalton is unaware that villainous local entrepreneur Brad Wesley wants things to stay as they are. As a result, the newcomer gets a deep stab wound from Wesley's hired goons, catching charming physician Dr Elizabeth Clay's eye. For this alone, corrupt Wesley has enough reason to get rid of Dalton at all costs. But a bouncer like Dalton always has the final say.—Nick Riganas

Dalton is an expert "cooler," a bar-room bouncer who can break up fights without getting himself killed in the process. Frank Tilghman, the owner of the Double Deuce in Jasper, Missouri, has hired Dalton away from a bar in New York City, because Tilghman needs someone who can handle the nightly outbreaks of violence at the Double Deuce, and teach the rest of the Double Deuce's bouncers how to handle it. Dalton is injured on a fight and is treated by Elizabeth "Doc" Clay, the local doctor. Dalton and Doc soon fall in love with each other, and this angers Brad Wesley, a crime boss. Wesley is out to get rid of Dalton.—Daniel Poniatowski

When it becomes too violent at the Double Deuce road house, the club owner hires Dalton, a professional "cooler" (head bouncer) to clean it up. But Dalton's early successes and budding romance with the local doctor enrages Wesley, the town crime boss. When Dalton continues to defy him, the stage is set for a dramatic confrontation that will test Dalton's limits and decide the fate of the town.—R. Huston

The story opens at a bar called Bandstand in an unidentified town. A limo pulls up and a tall gentleman steps out and is allowed to enter the place after showing the bouncer at the door his business card. Inside, he finds the bar is very lively - lots of customers drinking and dancing, a band playing loud, bluesy rock and lots of cash being taken in by the bartenders. Nearby is a man named Dalton, the head bouncer or "cooler," who carefully watches over the crowd and the bouncers. When a small fight breaks out involving three of the bouncers, he approaches the customer who started the brawl and tells him and his friend they should leave. The customer apologizes, saying they'll behave. Dalton turns around and the customer grabs a nearby knife and slashes Dalton on his upper arm. Dalton seems unfazed, especially when the customer says he wants to fight him. Dalton tells him "Outside." When they're outside, Dalton smiles and leaves them there with five of the biggest bouncers guarding the door.

Back inside the club, the tall businessman introduces himself to Dalton, who is stitching up the wound he'd just received. The man's name is Tilghman and he wants to hire Dalton to help him clean up a bar he'd just bought outside of Kansas City. Just after Tilghman bought the place, it attracted a violent crowd. Dalton tells him he'll work for him for $5000 up front, $500 a night and that when the bar is cleaned up, he can leave. Tilghman gladly accepts the offer and hands Dalton a plane ticket. Dalton turns it down, saying he thinks flying's too dangerous. Dalton goes to a local parking garage driving an old clunky 1964 Buick Riviera and tosses the keys to the attendant, telling the old man to keep the car if he wants it. In the garage, he takes the cover off his real car, a 1986 Mercedes 560, and drives out of town.

Dalton arrives in Jasper, Missouri and goes directly to Tilghman's club, the Double Deuce. Before he enters the place, a large bouncer with a mean attitude, Morgan, violently tosses out a troublemaker. Inside, Dalton stands by the bar, waiting for Tilghman to arrive. One of the waitresses, Carrie, asks Dalton who he is and recognizes his name. Already something of a legend in the bouncing business, several of the other bouncers react with excitement at his presence. One of the bouncers says it's rumored that Dalton killed a man by tearing out his throat with his bare hand. Dalton remains passive, watching the club and seeing that several of the staff are unsuited to the job, are dealing drugs or are too busy fraternizing with female customers to care about breaking up the brawls that occur. Near the end of the night, a violent brawl becomes widespread among the customers and bouncers. Several pieces of furniture are destroyed, one of the bouncers, Steve, has a nasty shiner on his face. Morgan has beaten up several patrons, seemingly enjoying it. Dalton also catches up with the band's leader, the blind guitarist Cody, who plays behind a chicken-wire cage to avoid being hit by bottles thrown by customers. Dalton and Cody's band are plainly old acquaintances.

Dalton goes to a used-car lot and buys another old clunker, a 1965 Buick Riviera. He also stops at a junkyard and buys several mounted tires, throwing them in the trunk. At a nearby farm, owned by an old man named Emmet, he rents a loft apartment. While he talks to Emmet about the rent, a helicopter flies across the small lake next to Emmet's property and swings low over his horse corral, startling the horses. Emmet grouses that the owner of the chopper, Brad Wesley, seems to fly low over his property just to agitate the horses and annoy him.

Dalton and Tilghman hold an employee's meeting before the club opens that night. Tilghman announces that he's going to renovate the bar and that Dalton is now in charge of the management of the floor. Dalton immediately fires Morgan, telling him he doesn't have the right temperament for the job. Morgan threatens him and walks out furious. Dalton also fires the woman who was dealing drugs. He then lays out the rules; everyone will be on their guard at all times and not underestimate any customer's ability to cause trouble; they'll take any fights outside so that brawls don't further damage the place; and they'll "be nice" until Dalton determines they'll have to get more physical with any customers. He also tells them not to be angered by customers who insult them, saying "it's just a job, nothing personal." In the bar that night, a few brawls break out but Dalton and his guys are able to handle them as a team. Dalton catches Steven in a storeroom having sex with a female customer and fires him on the spot. He watches one of the bartenders, Pat, as he skims from the register and helps himself to free beers. Plainly reluctant at first, Tilghman fires Pat, which seems to carry more weight than simply getting rid of someone who was cheating him. Tilghman also remarks that it was a good night because nobody was seriously injured or killed.

When Dalton leaves that night, he finds that the windshield of his Riviera has been smashed, all four tires have been flattened and the antenna has been broken. He scoffs as if he's seen it all before. While driving to town the next morning, he nearly collides with Brad Wesley, who is swerving dangerously along the road in his Mustang. At the local auto-parts store, Dalton befriends the owner, a man named Red. He sells Dalton a new antenna and says he'll order him a new windshield. Just then, Wesley walks in with a sinister-looking man named Jimmy, who glares at Dalton as he walks out. After Dalton walks out, Wesley seemingly greets Red with a friendly tone but Red knows the reason Wesley has shown up is to extort money from him.

That night at the Double Deuce, Dalton is called up to Tilghman's office. The bartender that was fired, Pat, is there along with a man named O'Connor, who tells Dalton that Tilghman's had a "change of heart" about firing Pat. When Dalton asks for an explanation, O'Connor tells him that Tilghman buys his liquor and beer from Wesley and that Pat is Wesley's nephew. Pat pulls a large Bowie knife on Dalton, who easily dodges it and disarms him. One of Wesley's other thugs, a fat man named Tinker, slashes Dalton under his arm. Dalton easily beats all of them showing high skill in martial arts and crashes through the office window with O'Connor. He has his guys thrown them all out while he goes to the emergency room.

At the ER, Dalton meets a beautiful young doctor, Elizabeth Clay, who staples up his wound, even after Dalton refuses to let her inject him with an anesthetic. He invites her to the Double Deuce.

The next day, at Wesley's house, Tinker and O'Connor apologize to their boss. Wesley says he believes Tinker but makes O'Connor apologize repeatedly until Wesley beats him senseless.

O'Connor and Tinker show up at Emmet's farm looking for Dalton. They tell him that Wesley wants to meet with him. They take him to Wesley's home where Wesley tells Dalton that he's been the driving force in bringing most of the big-name businesses to Jasper. He even offers Dalton a job at a new club he's planning to open. Dalton refuses and leaves. He later calls an old friend of his, Wade Garrett, another cooler, and asks if he knows anything about Wesley. Garrett doesn't and tells Dalton to watch out for himself.

A few nights later, the bar has undergone the renovations Tilghman planned and the crowds have swelled. However, the place seems to be running out of alcohol rapidly. Tilghman says he's called every distributor he knows but none of them will do business with him. Dalton immediately realizes Wesley has interfered. Dalton places a call to a friend of his. One of the bouncers informs Dalton that a small group of Wesley's goons are at the door. When Dalton looks them over, he notices one has a small blade attached to the toe of his boot. Dalton refuses to allow them in and they quickly become violent but are easily taken down and thrown out. Doc Clay shows up and Dalton takes her out after his shift. She asks him if he enjoys his work and he reluctantly says he does, but it's just a job to him. She tells him with all the injuries he's suffered, he might not live to an old age and needs to slow down. He takes in her advice with mild interest.

At the Deuce the next day, Dalton talks to Cody who tells him that Elizabeth Clay is Red's daughter and a one-time love interest of Wesley. When she left him, Wesley became intensely jealous. Cody warns his friend to tread carefully. Just then, a bouncer lets Dalton know a delivery has arrived. Out on the loading dock, Dalton supervises the inventory. Morgan, O'Connor, Tinker and another of Wesley's goons show up, ordering the delivery guy to take back his load. They begin smashing bottles and try to fight Dalton, who takes several of them down before he's hit over the head with a bottle. Wade Garrett arrives and goes out to the dock where he finds Dalton being held down while the goons take pot shots at him. Wade quickly joins the fight and they're both able to rout Wesley's men.

Dalton takes Wesley to meet Elizabeth that night and she and Wade become instant friends. Wade suggests that Dalton may have found the woman that can change him. Dalton shrugs it off, thinking he leads too violent a life to settle down and that he hasn't had the best of luck with women. Wade tells him that the incident where he killed a man wasn't his fault since the woman Dalton was with didn't tell him she was married. Her husband pulled a gun and Dalton killed him, acting in self-defense.

Dalton later invites Elizabeth to his loft and the two spend an romantic night together. They talk in the middle of the night about Dalton's line of work and she remarks about the physical toll it's taken on his body. She tells him he'll end up in a lot of pain when he's older, a suggestion he mildly takes to heart. From across the lake that divides Emmet's property from Wesley's, Wesley himself sees the two of them having sex and seethes.

Garrett hangs out with Dalton at the bar the next night. Someone rushes in with the news that Red's store is on fire. Dalton runs out just in time to see the place explode, likely from a firebomb. Back at the bar, Wesley has sneaked in. He tells everyone that it's a shame that Red's place burned down. In an effort to antagonize Dalton and his crew, he orders his blonde bombshell girlfriend, Denise, to do a striptease. When she ignores the efforts of the bouncers to stop her, Dalton steps in and leads her back to Wesley. Wesley then sets up a fight between Jimmy and the bouncers. Jimmy beats them all down wielding a pool cue and making use of his own martial arts skill. He challenges Wade directly and the two fight furiously to a draw until Dalton steps in. He and Dalton briefly exchange blows until Wesley fires a shot from a pistol. He tells Dalton that things aren't working out and announces he'll leave.

Some of the more prominent business owners, including Tilghman & Red, meet together to discuss how much more demanding, unstable and violent Wesley is becoming. Red is planning to leave town. After Wesley somehow gets word of the meeting, he has one of his men drive a monster truck through the car dealership of Stroudenmire, one of Jasper's businessmen. Wesley proclaims that Jasper is his town. When Elizabeth confronts him, Wesley reveals the real reason for his antagonism: Dalton. He says that Dalton either has to leave or he'll wind up dead.

Back at Emmet's place, Wade tries to talk to Dalton while he attacks a heavy bag, clearly enraged over Wesley's destruction of the auto dealership and the fear that the mogul uses to control the town. Dalton tells Wade to leave but Wade refuses. When Dalton takes a shot at him, Wade stops the strike cold and reminds Dalton that he learned just as much from his young friend as Dalton learned from him. Wade leaves Dalton to his workout.

Elizabeth goes to Dalton's place that night and asks him to leave, saying his challenges to Wesley's dictatorial rule will get him killed. Dalton refuses, saying he's dealt with men like Wesley before and that they won't stop until they're taken down. Elizabeth tries to tell him that the town is not his responsibility to save and that he might be too violent for it. Just then, Emmet's house erupts in flame. Dalton rushes in and carries Emmet out, who's uninjured. The house explodes again and Dalton hears Jimmy riding away on a motorcycle. He chases him and is able to knock Jimmy off. The two square off, trading martial arts blows. Dalton eventually wins the upper hand and Jimmy pulls a gun on him. Dalton knocks it from Jimmy's hand and sinks his fingers into Jimmy's throat, ripping it open and killing him. Elizabeth is horrified and leaves. Dalton takes Jimmy's body and sends it floating across the lake to Wesley's house.

After he arrives at the Deuce the next day, Dalton gets a call from Wesley. Wesley tells him he's flipping a coin to see whether Wade or Elizabeth dies and doesn't tell Dalton the outcome. Soon after, Wade staggers into Deuce, having been beaten very badly. Dalton finally gives in, saying he, Wade and Elizabeth will pack up and leave. Wade mentions that his attackers told him he was lucky. Dalton suddenly believes that Wesley intends to kill Elizabeth and rushes to the hospital to find her. He becomes demanding and forceful, telling her she's leaving with him. She refuses, telling him to leave her alone. Back at the Deuce, Dalton sees Wade seemingly sleeping on the bar. When he turns him over, he sees that Wade's been stabbed with a combat knife, with a note saying "It was tails". The devastated Dalton takes the knife and drives out to Wesley's place.

Wesley's goons wait on his front lawn, armed with shotguns. They see Dalton's Mercedes speeding toward them and open fire. The car doesn't slow down and flips over the rock wall. As it does, one of the guys shoots the gas tank and the car catches fire, landing on its tires and rolling a few more yards. When they open the car, one of them finds that the accelerator pedal has been fastened down with his combat knife. He takes it and orders everyone to find Dalton, who's likely in the house somewhere. As the guy with the knife rounds a corner, he finds Morgan lying dead.

Inside the house, Dalton stalks Wesley's guys, killing them one at a time, including the knife's owner in revenge for Wade. He also pushes over a large stuffed polar bear on Tinker. When Wesley enters the room and sees his henchmen dead, he taunts Dalton, saying that Wade was a "mercy killing". Dalton fights with Wesley, who tries to kill him with hunting spears. Wesley eventually pulls out a pistol. Dalton disarms him and tenses himself to tear out Wesley's throat, but Elizabeth walks in and stops him. When Wesley grabs his pistol again, he's suddenly hit by several shotgun blasts. Red, Stroudenmire and Tilghman have shown up, wielding their own weapons. Tilghman coldly tells Wesley the town is theirs, and fires the last shot. By the time the police have shown up, Red has hidden everyone's shotguns and they all feign innocence.

The story closes with Cody's band playing at the successful Double Deuce and Dalton and Elizabeth enjoying a romantic swim together.