A 2001 American spy film directed by Tony Scott and starring Robert Redford and Brad Pitt. The film grossed $62 million in the United States and $143 million worldwide and received mostly positive reviews from film critics.

Set in 1991, the film depicts the governments of the U.S. and China on the verge of a major trade agreement, with the President of the United States due to pay a visit to China to seal the deal. The CIA gets word that its agent Tom Bishop (Brad Pitt) has been captured trying to free an Englishwoman, Elizabeth Hadley (Catherine McCormack), from a People's Liberation Army prison in Su Chou near Shanghai. Bishop is being questioned under torture and will be executed in 24 hours unless he is claimed by the U.S. government. If the CIA claims Bishop as an agent, they risk destroying the trade agreement. Exacerbating the situation is the fact that Bishop was operating without permission from the Agency.

In an attempt to quickly deal with the situation, CIA executives call in Nathan Muir (Robert Redford), an ageing mid-level case officer on his last day before retirement and the man who recruited Bishop. Although they tell Muir they simply need him to act as a "stop gap" to fill in some holes in their background files, the officials are hoping he gives them the smoking gun they need to justify letting Bishop die. The CIA higher-ups are not aware that Muir has already been tipped off by fellow CIA veteran Harry Duncan (David Hemmings), for whom Bishop had been working an operation in Hong Kong before going rogue, about Bishop's capture prior to Muir's arrival at the CIA's headquarters. Muir first attempts to save Bishop by leaking the storey to CNN through a contact in Hong Kong, believing that the CIA will rescue Bishop once a public outcry puts pressure on them to do so. Unfortunately, the tactic only stalls them as a phone call to the FCC from CIA Deputy Director Charles Harker (Stephen Dillane) results in CNN retracting the story.