Buddies Pepper Lewis (Woody Harrelson) and Sonny Gilstrap (Kiefer Sutherland) who are championship rodeo partners travel to New York to find their missing friend, Nacho Salazar Joaquín Martínez after he disappears in New York City to pick up his daughter, Theresa (Cara Buono). When Pepper and Sonny find that neither is anywhere to be found, they go about the wacky adventure of finding Nacho and Theresa, and in the process, test the foundation of their friendship. Along the way, they find themselves entwined in the inner workings of a New York sweat shop where Theresa has been enslaved after traveling to the U.S.A. from Cuba. Going about doing things in a cowboy way, Pepper and Sonny put their small town skills to the test in a big city kind of way and rescue Theresa from the thugs. 冷静沉着的硬汉牛仔桑尼（基弗·萨瑟兰）和鲁莽行事人如其名的二楞子牛仔辣椒（伍迪·哈里森），原在家乡过着单纯的牧场生活，但好友纳秋上纽约接女儿后一去不返，二人决定北上五光十色的纽约寻找老友。乍到繁荣都市的二个乡巴佬，自然是闹了许多笑话，着实让做作的纽约人瞠目结舌。两人查访之下，得知纳秋已付五千元给一黑社会分子史达克，请他从吉巴将女儿泰瑞莎接到美国，但贪婪凶残的史达克在其女到达纽约之后，要求纳秋再付五千元，并将他杀害，把泰瑞莎视为禁婪，限制其行动。桑尼得知真相，悲愤不已，不惜典当长年视若生命的「牛仔大赛冠军带」，将纳秋生前质押的枪枝赎回，欲替老友报仇。原本吊儿郎当状况百出的辣椒见状，也收起顽皮本性，不再惹事。最后和桑尼连手缉凶，两人同心协力加上一慹心警察义助之下，终于制伏歹徒，救出泰瑞莎。
