In Istanbul, former IMF agent Barney Collier is at a café owned by
Lydia Aden. Lt. Yusef Hamidou and his men barge in and tells Barney to
get up. When he refuses, the officers restrain him and Hamidou slaps him
before having him taken away.
Jim picks up his briefing from a
van at the beach and is informed that three months ago, Englishman
George Stanton was murdered at his home in Istanbul, shot in the face
with a shotgun. Stanton made money from investments and Lt. Hamidou was
promoted to captain after arresting the man responsible for Stanton's
death: Jim's former teammate, Barney Collier. Barney is scheduled to
hang in three days and is being held at the prison that Hamidou
controls. The IMF believes that Hamidou was involved in Stanton's death
and framed Barney, and Jim and his team must bring the crooked captain
to justice and save Barney's life.
At the team meeting, Barney
explains that after his mother's death, his father left the U.S. and
tried to get as far away as he could. They figure that Hamidou, who has a
long history as a crooked cop, didn't murder Stanton but knows who
does. Barney was convicted on Lydia's testimony, and she claimed that
she was Barney's lover. Grant doesn't believe it, insisting his father
is innocent, and Jim warns him not to let emotion cloud his judgment.
The
team travels to Istanbul and Jim goes to the café to meet with Lt.
Sirlak, who the IMF has confirmed is an honest cop. Sirlak agrees to get
Grant in to see Barney while Hamidou is away that afternoon. As he
leaves, Grant arrives and Jim explains that Sirlak was the warden at the
prison until he was demoted to make way for Hamidou. That afternoon,
Jim and Grant go to the prison and meet with Grant's father. While Grant
admits that he's missed Barney, who explains that he needed time alone
after his wife's death, Jim takes photos of the cell with a hidden
camera and assures Barney that they'll get him out.
Back at the
hotel room the team is using as a base of operations, Grant uses a
computer to duplicate the wall patterns of the cell onto latex sheet.
The next day, Nicholas and Max pose as priest and ask Hamidou for a
meeting with Barney. He refuses until they threaten to involve the
American embassy. Once they're in the cell, the two agents identify
themselves and place the latex sheets up in the back of the cell using
collapsible metal supports, creating a false wall.
Jim and Casey
go to Stanton's house and search the place. They find a book about the
treasures of the St. Sophia Cathedral and a newspaper article about the
murder of four guards during the theft of the Tsarina's necklace four
month ago. The robbers were never identified.
Max and Nicholas leave and Barney hides behind the false wall.
The police arrest Jim and Casey as they leave Stanton's home.
Later,
Max and Nicholas return to perform the last rites for Barney before his
execution. Hamidou is surprised to discover that Barney has apparently
escaped and blames Sirlak. Once Hamidou leaves to conduct a search, the
IMF agents lure the hooded hangman into the cell and then gas him
unconscious. Barney then dons the hangman's hood and leaves with
Nicholas and Max.
Jim and Casey are taken to the police station
and tell Hamidou that they're private investigators. Since Hamidou knows
Jim met with Barney earlier, Jim explains that he had hoped to get
Barney to lead them to the stolen necklace. He claims that they work for
a private collector who wants to buy the stolen necklace, and three
weeks ago the collector received an anonymous offer to sell it. Jim was
to go to Istanbul where the seller would contact him with further
instructions. Intrigued and clearly unaware of where the necklace is,
Hamidou insists that they work together. The agents then return to the
hotel and meet with Barney and the others. Max goes to the café to tap
Lydia's phone, while Jim asks Barney if he can confront Lydia. Exhausted
from his ordeal in prison, Barney says that he'll need a couple of days
and Jim asks Grant to fill in.
That night, Nicholas is making up
Grant to look like his father, while Grant talks about how Barney
wasn't there for his birthdays because he was always on assignment. His
father also wasn't there when Grant's mother died. Barney, overhearing,
admits that he didn't know his wife was dead until a week later, but
Grant says that he understands his father was doing important work.
However, Barney says that he came back from one mission on Grant's ninth
birthday but the boy had fallen asleep waiting to tell him something
important. Grant remembers and tells him that he wanted to tell him that
he loved him, and never stopped. Barney assures him that he loves him
as well as Nicholas finishes his work.
The next day at the café,
Grant visits Lydia as she prepares to leave town. Jim and Nicholas are
outside in the car listening as Grant accuses Lydia of setting Barney up
to get the necklace. She insists she doesn't know anything about it,
and Nicholas sets off a fake police siren so that Grant is scared away.
As he leaves, he threatens to kill her if she doesn't tell him about the
necklace. Once she's gone, Lydia calls her accomplice: Stanton, who is
alive and well, but bandaged up because he's undergone plastic surgery.
He tells her to meet him at the abandoned building he's using as a
hideout so she can avoid Barney.
Jim and Nicholas follow Lydia
and split up to enter the building. Meanwhile, Lydia wants to leave the
country with Stanton, but he reminds her that he hasn't sold the
necklace yet. Realizing that she's a liability, Stanton shoots her and
starts packing. Jim arrives and, unaware of where Stanton is, sees Lydia
dying on the floor. Stanton draws his gun and orders him to tell him
what he knows about the necklace. Nicholas arrives and disarms Stanton,
and the two men struggle on a balcony. Stanton finally swings at
Nicholas with a board, misses, and falls over the edge to his death.
The
dying Lydia tells Jim that Barney she and Stanton framed Barney, and
Stanton shot a derelict's corpse in the face to make identification
impossible for Hamidou, his partner in the necklace theft. Meanwhile,
Nicholas discovers that Stanton was wearing colored prescription contact
lenses to further disguise his appearance. He returns to the main room
and searches it with Jim, and they finally find the necklace wrapped in
plastic and hidden in a pot of stew. They then hide Stanton's body.
Back
at the hotel, Grant makes a pair of glasses that match Stanton's
prescription. When Barney worries that they can't clear his name with
Stanton dead, Jim says that they'll bring him back from the dead a
second time. He goes back to the building and drops the glasses near
Lydia's corpse, and then calls Hamidou. When the captain arrives, Jim
explains that Barney called him there to sell the necklace for $10
million. After seeing the glasses, Hamidou figures that Stanton is still
alive and tells Jim that he'll get the necklace from the Englishman and
then they'll sell it to Barney and split the $10 million.
Back
at the hotel, Casey wires Jim and assures him that the team has set up
the recording equipment at the café. Jim tells Casey to call Sirlak in
thirty minutes and have him go to the café, and sets up a meeting with
Hamidou at the café.
Barney and Grant are at the café setting up
mirrors, spotlights, and a video camera with Nicholas and Max. Casey
arrives to tell them that Sirlak is on his way. Jim and Hamidou arrive
first and Hamidou tells Jim that Stanton is alive and faked his own
death. He tells the IMF agent to stay in the car while he gets the
necklace from Stanton, but Jim circles around to the back once he's
alone.
Inside, Barney calls to Hamidou. He steps out and says
that he'll give Hamidou the necklace if he clears Barney's name. Hamidou
agrees and Barney hints that it's in his prison cell. Realizing that he
no longer needs Barney, Hamidou shoots at him only to discover that
he's hit a mirror. Barney continues to taunt him, moving from mirror to
mirror as Hamidou shoots at each one and shatters them. A frustrated
Hamidou shouts out, confessing that he stole the necklace and killed the
guards with Stanton. Barney finally says that he's leaving and Hamidou
promises to arrest him if he shows himself in Turkey again. Once the
captain leaves, Jim and Barney review the tape they made of Hamidou's
confession.
Hamidou drives to the prison and searches Barney's cell for the necklace.
Sirlak
arrives at the café and Jim is waiting for him with the necklace and
the recording of Hamidou's confession. The lieutenant goes to the prison
and informs Hamidou that he's under arrest for theft and murder.
Outside, Jim and Barney join the others and Jim tells Grant that it's
time to take his father home.
Written by Gadfly on Oct 3, 2018