In Phillip Noyce's gripping thriller, Denzel Washington is Lincoln Rhyme, a decorated New York City police officer and successful author of crime novels. After a freak accident on the job, Rhyme is left paralyzed from the neck down (except for his index finger). Angelina Jolie is Amelia Donaghy, a troubled cop who finds herself caught up in the investigation of a brutal serial killer. With the help of the bed-ridden Rhyme, she enters a dangerous world that threatens to add her to the killer's list.
After an accident, a forensics expert, Lincoln Rhymes, is left only able to move his head and one finger. He is looked after by a loving nurse but the fear of a seizure, which would leave him a vegetable, is constantly present. This all changes when he receives clues from a serial killer, obviously needing forensic investigation, which sparks off a new interest in life for Lincoln...