The movie shows the events before and after a robbery at a jewelry shop in Los Angeles, California, that went wrong. The men are given nicknames with colours so that they do not know each others names; Mr. Blonde (Michael Madsen), Mr. Blue (Eddie Bunker), Mr. Brown (Quentin Tarantino), Mr. Orange (Tim Roth), Mr. Pink (Steve Buscemi), and Mr. White (Harvey Keitel). They work for a gangster Joe Cabot (Lawrence Tierney) and his son, "Nice Guy" Eddie (Chris Penn).