Chev Chelios (Statham) has been freelancing and a hitman for a major West Coast syndicate but a run of the mill job the night before went awry: He let his target slip away in an effort to quit professional killing and start a new life with his girlfriend Eve (Amy Smart).

The action–packed "do or die" film takes place over the course of one frenzied day in Los Angeles when Chev is about to begin his morning with an unexpected wake–up call. Groggy, practically unable to move and with a heart that’s barely breathing, he hears the voice of thug Ricky Verona (Jose Pablo Cantillo), who reveals Chev has been poisoned in his sleep and only has an hour to live.

Now, Chev must keep moving to stay alive: the only way to prolong the poison from stopping his heart is to keep his adrenaline flowing. As the clock ticks, Chev cuts a swath through the streets of Los Angeles, wreaking havoc on those who dare stand in his way. He must rescue Eve from danger, stay two steps ahead of his nemesis and search for an antidote to save his own life.

For writer–director Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, former commercial helmers making their feature debut, "Crank" stemmed from their own personal desire to make a nonstop action movie. "We have A.D.D. (Attention Deficit Disorder), and so do seventy million other Americans," jokes Neveldine. Adds Taylor, "’Crank’ is the ultimate A.D.D. movie. It’s a crazy film."

"With ‘Crank’ we wanted to do a movie where the guy was moving, moving, moving all the time. It’s like ‘Speed,’ only instead of a bus, it’s a guy. And if he slows down, he detonates," says Taylor. "It gave us a built–in way to move the camera the way we like to move and to attack the world of the character the way we wanted to attack his world."