Jack Crews (Patrick Swayze) is an ex-con trying to go straight for his family Melanie (Brenda Strong) and daughter Tracy. He's an expert driver and the court took away his license. His boss Cutler offers him a job off the books to pick up a mysterious load from Atlanta. His home is threatened with foreclosure and he decides to take the job. In Atlanta, Red (Meat Loaf) pairs Jack up with Earl (Randy Travis) with Sonny (Gabriel Casseus) and Wes (Brian Kelly) driving behind them. Ford (Charles S. Dutton) and McClaren (Stephen Tobolowsky) are bickering agents from different federal agencies looking to shut down the smuggling ring. The cops are not the only one after them. Red is looking to doublecross them.
While I appreciate creating a sense that everybody's coming after Jack, it makes no sense that Red would fight his own men for the load. Red should have replaced the entire crew with his men. He definitely has plenty of men to spare. The cops are tracking the load but nobody is following them. The writing is terribly flawed but there is good trucking action. I like the unusual truck on truck violence but that's about all. Red keeps coming back to annoy me.
While I appreciate creating a sense that everybody's coming after Jack, it makes no sense that Red would fight his own men for the load. Red should have replaced the entire crew with his men. He definitely has plenty of men to spare. The cops are tracking the load but nobody is following them. The writing is terribly flawed but there is good trucking action. I like the unusual truck on truck violence but that's about all. Red keeps coming back to annoy me.