The main character Yuri Orlov (played by Nicolas Cage) is a Ukrainian-American. He persuaded his brother Vitaly (Jared Leto) to be his partner in his arms trafficking business. They made a great success. Another important character, Jack Valentine (Ethan Hawke), is an Interpol agent. Jack finds out that Yuri is a gunrunner. From the first moment Jack met Yuri until the ending, he tried to arrest Yuri but every time Yuri escaped capture. At the last moment when Yuri finally got caught by Jack, Yuri said to Jack that he would never be sent to jail because he himself was a "necessary evil". He also told Jack that the U.S. government, which Jack was working for, also knew that and they needed arms dealers just like Yuri. In the end, Yuri got freed from capture and kept his business for the purpose of arming people in the world.