There is always the possibility of two truths. The truth we see. And what's behind it. One appears to be reality. The other is reality.

John Travolta stars as Tom Hardy, ex-Army Ranger trurned DEA agent, who is drawn into an ever widening mystery surrounding the disappearance of the feared and often hated Sgt. Nathan West (Samuel L. Jackson), as well as several of his elite Special Forces trainees during a hurricane in the jungles of Panama.

Only two survivors are found, Dunbar (Brian Van Holt), and a badly wounded Kendall (Giovanni Ribisis), the son of a high profile Joint Chiefs of Staff official. Neither is willing to cooperate with Captain Julie Osbournes's (Connie Neilson) investigation. So base commander Colonel Tom Styles brings in ex-Ranger Hardy, an old friend and a persuasive interrogator.

Osbourne disapproves of Hardy who is on leave from the DEA after having come under suspicion of accepting bribes from local drug traffickers. She is alos uneasy to learn that Hardy once trained under West and hates him almost as passionately as his current recruits.

With time running out, Hardy and Osbourne call a temporary, if uneasy truce. Hardy cajoles a confession out of Dunbar, who claims Sgt West and the missing Rangers have been murderes and their bodies blown away by the hurricane.

When they later interview Kendall, he confirms that West and the other Rangers are dead. But in almost everyway his story contradicts Dunbar's.

What happened to West and his Ranger team? And what were they really doing in the jungle?