
So scarred and disillusioned is Ford (DeNiro) with life that he lives alone in a cabin deep in the Appalachian Mountains, in an area both remote and unforgiving. He guards his solitude with such might that he even refuses his son's offer to attend his grandson's christening. He cooks his own meals, listens to Johnny Cash records and gets by with aspirins to dull the pain from an injury he received on active duty. While on a journey to get more (much needed) pain killers Ford's truck has engine trouble, but by chance a lone man (with a heavy Serbian accent) in the woods offers to fix the problem and soon this stranger is sitting in Ford's cabin, enjoying a meal, drinking and swapping stories with this recluse. What Ford does not know is this man is trained killer Emil Kovac (Travolta), who is not there by accident, but has his own hidden agenda.