A taxi driver (Quaid) pounds Zen parables (if time money, is time the root of all evil?) into his passenger in a high-speed, idiosyncratic tour of their city's ethnic coteries. All the boy wants is to dispose of his date's dead dog and get back to the babe who's so hot she mutters darkly about being a pressure cooker.

Charles Veasey is a cop killer who's on death row waiting for his execution. One day he escapes. Nikki a cop, whose father Veasey killed has decided to go after him, despite what her superiors say. Harrison Coyle, a crime author, offers his assistance to Nikki, who refuses, but Coyle thinking that it would be good material for another book, pursues Veasey, and bumps into Nikki. Which infuriates her. Eventually, they agree to work together.

High school sweethearts Roslyn and Michael, now in their twenties, co-exist in a deeply unfulfilling marriage with kids. Both embark on extramarital affairs, unaware of the violent repercussions that await.

A team of Navy Seals are sent to destroy a disabled submarine so it will not fall into the "wrong" hands. They complete their mission, but are captured before they can return to their base. The U.S. Government will not mount a rescue mission to free the soldiers, so their teenage children take over. The kids find a way to venture into the foreign country and then must overcome many obstacles.