Reds is the story of Jack Reed (Warren Beatty), an American journalist who initially covered and soon became caught up in Russia's Bolshevik revolution. Reed meets Louise (Dianne Keaton) after one of his lectures, she leaves her husband for him and eventually marries Reed. For a time, she leaves Reed and lives with playwright Eugene O'Neill (Jack Nicholson). After the Russian revolution, Reed and his friends return to the US in hopes of fomenting a similar communist revolution. The plot is augmented with interviews with many of Reed's actual contemporaries who provide insights into his character and the events and moods of the times.