The film takes place in 1983, primarily in Amsterdam and centers in a group of five Dutch friends: Willem Holleeder (Sam Worthington), Cor van Hout (Jim Sturgess), Jan Boellard (Ryan Kwanten), Martin Erkamps (Thomas Cocquerel) and Frans Meijer (Mark van Eeuwen). The friends ran a construction company, which was successful, but squandered all the gains on expensive toys. When the economy tanked, their business took a hit and their office building was taken over by squatters, and such the bank would not give them any credit.Looking for easy money, they decide to kidnap Heineken owner, the tycoon Freddy Heineken (Anthony Hopkins) in order to achieve a very high ransom. The guys decide on Heineken as Cor's father-in-law keeps holding Heineken up as a role model to him and his friends. The guys have to rob a bank's armored car to get cash to fund their kidnapping of Mr Heineken. They use the money to extensively prepare a soundproof room and to maintain round the clock surveillance on Mr. Heineken.Although successfully capturing Heineken and his driver Ab Doderer (David Dencik), the group eventually face difficulties due to their lack of experience in crime. For e.g., a taxi driver witnesses the kidnapping & reports to the police. While photocopying the ransom note (by breaking into a shop at night), one of the guys forgets to remove the original from the photocopier itself and leave a vital clue with fingerprints on it. They realize their mistake & retrieve it the next day. Days pass by as they receive no response to their ransom note from the police. Tensions flare as after 3 weeks, there is still no response to their ransom note. Heineken pretends to cooperate with them & helps write a personalized note, which evokes a response from the police, who are ready to negotiate.Cor feels it is his duty to take care of his pregnant wife, Sonja (Jemima West). In the middle of this drama, the 5 guys execute an elaborate plan for the police to deliver the ransom money without revealing their identities. They are seemingly successful and hide the money in the forest. But a couple of days later, they are followed by the police. This scares the living daylight of everyone. The guys retrieve half the money from its hiding place, divide it up & decide to leave the country till things calm down. But they also decide to leave Heineken alone in his hostage room, a decision that would probably kill him. This causes a lot of tension within the group.Jan is the first one to be arrested, when he goes back to release Heineken. He runs into the police, who arrest him & then rescue Heineken. The remainder of the group leave the country with Willem and Cor going to Paris.Willem and Cor plan to remain hidden. However, Cor experiences strong emotional will to phone call Sonja, a dangerous action that could easily reveal their location to the police tracing. Eventually one by one, all remaining members of the gang are traced by the police, as the currency notes were numbered and easily traceable by police.Cor is initially reluctant and has arguments with Willem, but ultimately gives in to his feelings and calls Sonja to tell her about his whereabouts, resulting in the two being arrested by the French police while leaving their apartment.Jan served a 12-year sentence, Martin 8 years, Frans escaped a mental hospital & fled to Paraguay (where he was tracked to 10 years later & extradited to Netherlands), Cor & Willem served 11 years each. Cor & Willem returned to crime to become the Godfathers of Amsterdam. Cor was assassinated in 2003. A significant portion of the ransom money was never recovered.