When a bank robbery goes bad, would-be robbers Jimmy (James Nesbitt) and his pal Rudy (Lennie James) find themselves in prison. The prison's warden (Christopher Plummer) just happens to be an amateur playwright who has just finished "Nelson--the Musical," a production based on the life of Admiral Nelson. Jimmy and Rudy agree to star in an all-inmate staging of the play after they learn that it is to take place in the prison chapel--a place where they believe they can make a breakout to the outside world.