This exceptionally tense and exciting crime drama, centers on the rivalry between a professional thief who lives life fast and on a keen edge, swearing that he never puts himself in any criminal situation that he cannot escape in thirty seconds flat, and a determined police captain who wants to catch the thief before he retires. The film opens with a tightly-run armored truck robbery in downtown Los Angeles. There Neil McCauley and his gang escape with a fortune. Things run like clockwork until one of the gang's newest members shoots three guards. Feeling like the violence was unnecessary, McCauley nearly beats the youth to death. Meanwhile Detective Vincent Hanna arrives to investigate. McCauley, an ex-con who never wants to return to prison, begins planning his retirement in New Zealand, but then he meets a beautiful bookstore clerk. At first he does not reveal his profession, but when Eady later finds out, she finds herself tempted to join his gang. Meanwhile Detective Hannah tries to cope with his disintegrating third marriage. What makes the film a cut above others of the genre is that it spends time exploring each of the major characters and their motivations as it leads to its inevitable, exciting showdown.