Paper Soldiers follows an overeager burglar named Shawn (Kevin Hart) through the ups and downs of his short, stressful career. Already on parole but faced with the power being turned off and his child forced to eat nothing but cereal, Shawn convinces an older thief (Derrick "Capone" Lee) to train him. He soon finds himself caught between his angry girlfriend (Tiffany Withers), his incompetent would-be-criminal friends, and a neighborhood sociopath with a hair-trigger temper (Beanie Sigel).