A black TV director and his wife are inexplicably insulted by the white police for unwarranted illegal driving; the seemingly reprehensible policeman saves the black woman he insulted at the most critical moment; the honest Persian shopkeeper almost murders the tattooed Mexican locksmith (played by Michael Pena Michael Pena) The district attorney (Brandon Fisher Brendan Fraser) and his wife (Sandra Bullock Sandra Bullock) can only vent their anger on the innocent locksmith after being robbed of the jeep; the black policeman (Don Chander Don Cheadle) is threatened by his boss and anxiously looking for his brother. All these seemingly unrelated trivialities were entangled in an unexpected way within 36 hours, taking place on the streets of Los Angeles, a multi-ethnic and multicultural city famous for violence, sex and money.