Plot

Locked up for killing an intruder in self-defense, a family man must cope with life in the violent penal system.

A family man, Wade Porter, is living the American Dream with his girlfriend Laura and their son Michael: they have a nice house, he has just raised a loan to make his company grow and they are going to get married. However their dream becomes a nightmare when Wade unintentionally kills a burglar that had broken into their house in the middle of the night on his lawn. He is sent to trial and accepts a deal proposed by the prosecutor, being sentenced to three years in prison. During the transportation, there is an incident in the bus and Wade is framed and sent to the maximum security wing under the command of the corrupt Lieutenant Jackson. His cell-mate John Smith that was sentenced to life after avenging the death of his family befriends Wade and gives helpful advice and instills hope in Wade that he will return to his family.—Claudio Carvalho, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The family man Wade Porter (Stephen Dorff) is living the American Dream with his girlfriend Laura (Marisol Nichols) and their son Michael: they have a nice house; he has just raised a loan to make his company grow and they are going to get married. However, their dream becomes a nightmare when Wade unintentionally kills a burglar that had broken into their house in the middle of the night on his lawn. Wade chased the burglar out of the house and hits him in the head with a baseball bat, unintentionally killing him on his lawn. For attacking an unarmed intruder after he exited the house, he is arrested and charged with murder.

Wade is put on trial and accepts a deal proposed by the prosecutor. At the urging of his public defender, he enters a plea of no contest in exchange for a reduced sentence of three years for involuntary manslaughter.

During the transportation, there is an incident in the bus. During the bus ride to prison Danny Sampson (Chris Browning), leader of the local Aryan Brotherhood, stabs a man and hides the knife with young Aryan member Snowman (Johnny Lewis) who is sitting behind Wade. In a moment's panic, Snowman hides the knife under Wade's seat and forces him to deny knowledge of it.

As a result, Wade is sent to solitary confinement until the stabbing can be investigated. Lieutenant Jackson interrogates him about the stabbing, but he doesn't cooperate with the investigation. Jackson (Harold Perrineau) decides to send Wade to the Security Housing Unit (SHU) in Corcoran State Prison where he is the commanding officer.

Jackson overrides the advice of this top security person & puts Wade in with the common hardened criminals who are residents at his facility. Jackson refuses to show any leniency for Wade's crime free past. In the middle of the gloom and the daily carefully monitored & humiliating existence, John Smith (Val Kilmer) walks into the prison & is assigned as cell mate to Wade. John is sympathetic to Wade & takes him under his wings. John Smith is serving a life sentence after avenging the death of his family. Inmates here are under 23-hour lock-down and not permitted to have visitors for the first three months. Wade discovers the daily hour of yard time consists of inmate fights, on which the officers bet.

Jackson watches the developing friendship between Wade & John. John saves Wade from the Nazi skinhead gang in prison when they turn on Wade when Wade refuses to fight the Hispanics as the Nazi's crony. The Nazi skinhead gang lead promises revenge to John.

In addition to the prison violence, Wade's regular visits with Laura start to take their toll on their relationship. Michael has nightmares after visiting, and the family's finances are running low.

Jackson resorts to heavy violence to control the gang wars within prison. His officers James (Nate Parker) & Cormack are not supportive of this & want to do things by the book. But Jackson always manages to convince them to his point of view with an evil streak in his eyes.

Jackson arranges cockfights between Wade and the Hispanics & bets on them with his colleagues. Wade refuses to fight. Jackson threatens Wade to implicate him in the murder of the inmate on the prison transport bus & extend his stay in the prison when Wade had only 4 months to go on his term. After Wade refuses to identify Sampson as the perpetrator of the murder on the bus, Jackson falsely testifies that he was an accessory to the murder, resulting in an additional three years being added to his existing sentence. Wade is sentenced to 6 years in prison on this second conviction that was implanted by Jackson & was based purely on his testimony on Wade's violent conduct in prison. After the second conviction, Wade's wife who was under a lot of stress due to financial problems, leaves Wade. Broken and enraged, he resorts to fighting the prisoners in exchange for protection from Sampson and the Aryan Brotherhood.

But later on, his wife comes back to Wade & wants to make up. Wade decides that what Jackson did was wrong & wants to expose him so that he can get his life back. Wade agrees to participate in Jackson's cock fights, but then simultaneously asks his wife to contact one of John's relatives who knows a high official in the DA's office. Upon hearing Wade's wife's allegations about prison cockfights, the DA agrees to visit the prison the same day Wade has alleged a cockfight will take place. In the fight, Wade defeats his opponent, but refuses to kill him. Jackson threatens Wade with his life, but the entire prison stands behind Wade & Jackson has to back down.

Jackson clears the yard out, where the fights take place, except for John & Wade & shuts the surveillance video. He enters the yard, has Wade & John covered with a sharpshooter & attacks them with a carving knife. James, already angry, does not agree with this behavior & turns on the surveillance video. As Jackson attacks, John pulls out a knife from his spectacles & stabs Jackson in the neck, killing him. The sharpshooter takes John out.

The DA reaches the prison just then & seizes the video tapes documenting the entire sequence & essentially clearing up Wade's name in the process. Wade is released upon completion of his original term. He is released after 15 months in prison and reunited with his family.