Jack Hammond (Charlie Sheen) isn't having a good year. First he had to take those gigs as a clown, just to make ends meet, then when the lady next door turned him in as the red-nosed robber, the blood evidence from the other guy was thrown out because it was collected improperly, so he's facing 25 years in prison.
When he catches a break and manages to escape before getting stuck in jail, he steals a car, but wouldn't you know it, it doesn't have any gas. He stops in at the convenience store, and as he's trying to get the guy to give him his change, a couple of police officers show up and sure enough, they get a notice over the radio about a stolen car, and they notice the very same vehicle just happens to be parked out front at the pumps. Uh-oh.
Jack seizes the moment, and uses the candy bar in his pocket to take a hostage - one Natalie Voss (Kristy Swanson), and that at least helps him get out the door. Since his car has already been identified, they take off in her car, a fancy red BMW, and the chase begins.
It just so happens that not far away, a couple of police officers are on the hot reality show The Fuzz, and as Jack and Natalie come around the corner, they spot them, and those two officers will take point on the rest of the chase. Other cars will join in soon enough, but these guys are at the forefront for the rest of the movie, and the two people from the show in the back seat have some of the best lines of the show from the back seat of their car.
Not long after Jack's driving starts, Natalie is hanging her head out the side of the car, and delivering a coded message to the police chasing them - she's getting sick all over their windshield, in spectacular fashion. From there, it doesn't get much better. The BMW heads to the freeway, and soon a truck full of cadavers from a medical supply store starts weaving erratically, dumping them all over the afternoon rush hour traffic.
Jack's luck doesn't really get any better, as he pokes his gun out the window and hits a bump at the same time, which results in the shooting out of a police car's tire, sending it flying and cutting off another vehicle, and getting him labeled as a marksman, when in reality, he doesn't really like guns.
Another blunder comes up when a couple of gung-ho vigilante types (Anthony Keidis and Flea of The Red Hot Chili Peppers) come onto the freeway in their monster truck and try to bump Jack off the road. But they only succeed in turning their own truck over and causing yet another spectacular blaze.
As the chase progresses, it's apparent that Jack isn't what everyone claims him to be, and slowly Natalie falls in love with him, and eventually she wants Jack to take her away with him - they can use her father to finance their getaway (he is one of the richest men in the state, if not the country). But it turns out that Jack is too nice a guy for that, and he ends up turning himself in to let her have a life of her own. Luckily, she has no such qualms, and she pulls out the gun he gave her and they make a safe getaway to the sunny shores of Mexico.
The movie is completely unbelievable, but it's a good bit of fun on a lazy weekend afternoon, and the running time is mercifully short to boot. Definitely worthwhile.
Rated PG-13 for language, almost comic violence and some sensuality.
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