"Joliet" Jake Blues is released from jail. His brother, Elwood, picks him up in a former police car. They go to the orphanage they grew up in, since Jake promised the orphanage "Mother Superior" (nicknamed "The Penguin"). There they find out that the orphanage is in need of money, for taxes. Jake and Elwood are sent off to earn it, but in a legal manner. From the start they are under continuous attention of the police. But Elwood does not mind; they wreck a complete shopping mall (Dixie Square Mall in Harvey, Illinois) in a police chase. They arrive at Elwood's apartment, which is located directly next to an elevated railway. After a night's sleep the apartment is blown up by a mystery woman, right at the moment of a police raid.