News radio journalist Frank Bonneville, played by Eric Bana, finds himself in a precarious situation when he enters a murder scene disguised as a police officer. After acquiring crucial details about the crime, he's promptly removed from the scene but immediately reports the unfolding story live on air. Upon his return to the station, he's hailed by his colleagues for breaking the story first. However, his boss, Geoffrey Mallard, portrayed by Kevin Pollak, cautions Frank that one more legal misstep could lead to his dismissal.
Meanwhile, Ian Finch, depicted by Ricky Gervais, Frank's every-man sound technician, brings his wife Eleanor, seen in the role by Vera Farmiga, to the station’s annual gala. But he soon has to leave for a stakeout with co-worker Claire Maddox, played by Kelly Macdonald. Eleanor expresses her discontent with Frank's mundane career and yearns for a more thrilling life, dismissing Frank's claims of knowing celebrities as mere pretension, as he hardly knows those who know them.
In a twist of fate, Eleanor unexpectedly ends up sleeping with Frank, completely unaware that he is her husband's colleague. The next day, Mallard assigns Frank and Finch to cover a uprising in Ecuador. Frank insists on having a technician accompany him due to past transmission difficulties in Pakistan. Mallard decides that Finch will join him on this assignment.
Initially, Finch is reluctant to go, hoping to mend his marriage after his wife left him that very morning. However, he ultimately chooses to accompany Frank. Their plans go awry at the airport when Finch accidentally tosses their passports and plane tickets into a garbage truck, after following Frank’s advice to discard a letter he had written to his wife to reconcile. The duo return to the city and seek refuge at a café owned by a Spanish couple, Brigida and Domingo, played by America Ferrera and Raúl Castillo respectively, located across from the radio station. They devise a plan to concoct war reports from their makeshift hideout, where Frank uses his cell phone to call in their fabricated reports while Finch creates convincing sound effects.
As their story escalates in complexity, they introduce a fictitious character named Emilio Santiago Alvarez, an elusive figure intricately tied to the conflict. This fictional report garners attention in Washington, raising alarms that the pair could become targets of Alvarez's operatives. As their ruse unravels, Mallard instructs Frank to seek refuge at the U.S. embassy in Quito for an emergency evacuation. Driven by panic and fear of being exposed, they proceed to destroy their SIM cards to erase all traces of their actions.
The following day, Frank’s failure to communicate with Mallard raises concerns at the station, leading to media speculation about their apparent disappearance. Claire takes the opportunity to visit Eleanor under the guise of offering support but seems more interested in capitalizing on their story. As desperation sets in, Frank and Finch orchestrate a staged kidnapping, utilizing Brigida and Domingo as their captors, and release a video demand for ransom directed at the President. In an unexpected turn, Eleanor appears on television, generating another wave of media frenzy as she performs the heart-wrenching song, “Dollar for a Hero,” pleading for their safe return.
Eleanor's public plea transforms her into a national figure, rapidly establishing a charity that accumulates over $124K for Frank and Finch. Meanwhile, Mallard encourages Claire to investigate Eleanor further, as she utilizes her husband’s predicament to launch her own singing career. Frank and Finch grapple with the emotional toll of their deception, and on Finch's birthday, as he confronts Eleanor’s selfishness, they agree to divide the charity funds to ensure everyone’s needs are met.
The plot thickens as the duo navigates toward Ecuador again, illegally sailing and hitching rides while stopping at a run-down bar—where they are promptly kidnapped. Fearing for their lives, Frank confesses to having slept with Eleanor, adding complexity to their already tangled lives. The captors later demand a ransom of $100K for each individual, but Eleanor stands firm, refusing to comply and encouraging them to kill Frank and Finch.
In a dramatic turn of events, as one captor returns plotting a fight to the death, Frank seizes the opportunity to grab his firearm, and Finch wrestles control to shoot him. They utilize a stolen vehicle to escape, reaching the U.S. embassy and securing a ride back home in a private jet. Upon their return, they are met with an outpouring of support from the Secretary of State, the press, and their loved ones. In a poignant moment, Frank delivers a speech while Finch forgoes public recognition to connect with Domingo and Brigida. As Eleanor prepares to discuss her burgeoning music career, Finch discards his wedding ring, acknowledging a new connection with Claire and walking away together toward the city, leaving their complicated past behind.
