Girl Walks Into a Bar 2011

An undercover ex-cop named Francine Driver (Carla Gugino), who poses as a hitman, meets a dentist – Nick (Zachary Quinto) – in a Los Angeles bar. Nick wants his wife Karen (Lauren Lee Smith) dead. He does not have the upfront payment of $20,000, but he promises he can get it for her before the night is over. When he leaves, Francine meets a young man named Henry (Aaron Tveit), a photographer who charms her before stealing her wallet and running off into the night. Her wallet contains the device used to record her conversation with Nick, and the evidence is incriminating.

This begins Francine’s frantic search through the bars and clubs of Los Angeles. As she travels, a number of characters emerge. Teresa (Emmanuelle Chriqui), Henry’s sister, is an exotic dancer. Dodge (Robert Forster), Henry and Teresa’s father, is an ex-con who offers baffling advice and has a quirky fixation on bones. Aldo (Danny DeVito), Nick’s patient, is a gangster who can help Nick get his money—but only if Nick agrees to join him in a heist. Camilla (Amber Valletta), a bartender, is wrestling with relationship problems with her divorced upstairs neighbor. June (Rosario Dawson), a hatcheck girl for an exclusive nude ping pong club, threads through the night with a sense of mystery. Francine’s superior, Sam Salazar (Josh Hartnett), is often addressed as Officer but is really a detective. And Emmit (Gil Bellows), Francine’s ex-husband, holds something she wants.

As the night unfolds, the city’s nightlife becomes a maze of fragile loyalties, hidden motives, and escalating danger, pushing Francine to stay a step ahead of the clock while navigating a web of characters who may help—or hinder—her quest to clear her name and uncover the truth behind the desperate schemes unfolding around her.