In 1937 Shanghai, a struggling tie salesman / fortune hunter (Sean Penn) loouking for a way to escape China and a missionary nurse (Madonna) form an unlikely partnership to locate 'Faraday's Flowers' - a hidden stash of opium that can be used to treat wounded soldiers. A series of mishaps threaten throw the couple off course, as every thug and drug smuggler in Shanghai is out to get the opium.
