Eddie Hawkins, called Hudson Hawk has just been released from ten years of prison and is planning to spend the rest of his life honestly. But then the crazy Mayflower couple blackmail him to steal some of the works of Leonardo da Vinci. If he refuses, they threaten to kill his friend Tommy.
A dog dies but it is played for laughs - the dog munches on the protagonist's balls and later attacks a woman, and is shot out of the window with a tennis ball launcher.