Emily T. Hope (Alicia Silverstone) is a brazen teenager looking for love and an identity. Unfortunately, she is emotionally neglected by her father, Alexander (Jack Thompson). Unable to win his approval, Emily has had to resort to a series of dangerous stunts to gain her father’s attention, all to no avail. So there’s only one thing left to do: kidnap herself and hold herself for ransom!

After locking herself in the trunk of her car to await her rescue, she is instead mistakenly kidnapped by professional car thief Vincent Roche (Benicio Del Toro) who was only after her BMW. As Emily and Vincent spend time together in their efforts to outwit and elude the various uncles, goons and cops on their trail, they begin to open up to each other. They come to realize that each has something to give the other and that perhaps they are looking for the same thing.