American citizen Billy Hayes is sentenced to four years in a brutal Turkish prison after being caught trying to smuggle hashish out of Istanbul. When his sentence is changed to life just days before his release, he has no choice but to try to escape.

Harry Morgan is an honest charter-boat captain who is facing hard times, takes on dangerous cargo to save his boat, support his family, and preserve his dignity. Left in the lurch by a freeloading passenger, Harry starts to entertain the criminal propositions of a sleazy lawyer, as well as the playful come-ons of a cheeky blonde, making a series of compromises that stretch his morality, and his marriage, farther than he'll admit.