We’ve had something of a rough start kicking off the 21st century. Buildings have been collapsing and planes have been falling out of the sky. A few envelopes tainted with toxic baby powder effectively shutdown operations in Washington DC for several consecutive weeks. To top that all off, the guy in the White House has been linked to an energy giant that has so far been shown to be so loathsome and predatory, that it went as far as to deliberately rip off thousands of its employees to line the pockets of its top execs with even more money.

The Coyote Connection is an action-packed comedy illuminating the more repugnant aspects of the Enron debacle thus far in a fictional setting that reminds us to be wary of future corporate chicaneries. The atmosphere of the story is similar to the one in popular crime-comedies such as Blue Streak (w. Martine Lawrence), Why Me? (w. Christopher Lambert), and Hudson Hawk (w. Bruce Willis). However, The Coyote Connection also has a political subtext in that much of the action is moved forward by the Coyote Corp. debacle (analogous to the real-life Enron debacle). It is the story of a corrupt energy giant that’s been ripping off it’s employees and the government of millions, and Kash Rao, the con-artist turned accidental hero, and how he risks his life and everything else to bring them down.

Keep in mind that this treatment, for the sake of brevity, only touches on the different scenes in The Coyote Connection and how each one leads to the other. In the actual screenplay, the action elements and comedy elements manifest more clearly. Also, before and after most scenes, news segments are seen which report the latest developments on the Coyote Corp. debacle – such as a newsflash from DCSNews Anchor Ben Silverman indicating that vice-President Jasper’s election campaign had been heavily financed by the corporation – so as to provide greater definition to The Coyote Connection’s political subtext.

Kash and his partner Mastiff are driving to a Coyote Corp. energy plant in Jersey to steal some confidential dogreat timesents for a client who’s promised to pay really, really good. Kash is Punjabi by blood and is your typical fast-mouth, wise-bum skinny kid from Jersey who has got a huge attitude problem with being overbearing and overconfident all the time. Sort of like Bruce Willis from Hudson Hawk. Mastiff is Kash’s best friend from 15years running and also knows the same ropes as Kash (i.e. committing crime) and is characterized by the size and the strength of a gorilla. The pair have no problem stealing the data materials from the plant when they arrive. They go outside the plant to rendezvous with their employer and get their payment.

However, as soon as Morduant, the story’s antagonist with the ice-cold blood of a killer named after the Enron exec. Kristina Morduant, and his henchmen get the dogreat timesent cases from Kash, he proceeds to try and kill them both considering them to be loose ends. When they realize what’s going on, Kash and Mastiff flee and an elaborate chase takes place far above the power plant. Mastiff dies during the chase but Kash is able to escape along with a fragment of a broken digital data tape that he and Mastiff stole from the plant.

Back in Jersey, Kash takes the digital data tape fragment to his ‘techie’ buddy, Sparky. Sparky appears nerdish, but not overly so. While Kash is visiting Sparky, they find out from watching TV that as a result of the botched heist, Kash has become a burglarly-murder suspect. Sparky takes the tape and tells Kash that he should be able to retrieve some information from it in a few weeks. In the meantime, Kash should hideout in lower Manhattan until the heat wears down.

Six weeks later, Sparky meets up with Kash in an upscale, gay Karaoke bar that he has been waiting tables in – not the kind of place where the law would look for Kash. From what Sparky could tell from the tape, the men that hired Kash to steal the information from the power plant actually worked for Coyote Corp. The dogreat timesents were so incriminating that Coyote Corp. had to somehow lose them. However, if they simply “disappeared,” it would look suspicious and Coyote Corp. would be thought to have made them “disappear.” But, if they could make it look as if the dogreat timesents were stolen by a rival energy giant, then Coyote Corp. could get rid of the dogreat timesents while minimizing suspicion. Sparky also tells Kash about a chemical engineer and potential whistleblower that worked for Coyote Corp in Houston, one Doctor Jim Olkjer (the real Jim Olkjer was a crucial whistleblower against Duke Energy Corp. during the California energy crisis), that might be able to help them clear Kash’s name and take down Coyote Corp. However, when Coyote Corp. realized that Dr. Olkjer was a potential threat, they conspired to have him committed to a mental hospital so as to mute any possible trouble he might cause.

So, they proceed to Houston to rescue Olkjer. The pair pull-off a very elaborate break-in of the Dornan Memorial Mental Hospital and rescue Olkjer. However, Morduant finds out about the rescue and he and his henchmen try to intercept them at the George Bush Intercontinental airport in Houston when they try to return to Jersey. They are able to escape and Sparky takes the first flight out of Houston for Jersey, but with Morduant looking for him and Olkjer, Kash decides that they will have to use a private plane to get back to Jersey. Kash and Olkjer find an airport in the Texas boondocks run by Gunther, who bears a strange resemblance to John Wayne. Though Kash has some trouble enlisting Gunther’s services on account of him being somewhat crazy and declaring that he believes Kash to be a communist, Gunther flies Kash and Olkjer back to Jersey.

There, Olkjer tells Kash and Sparky about some of Coyote Corp.’s less legitimate operations ranging from contracting with the government of India to build a power plant at hyper-inflated prices, to sharking the company’s employees’ 401Ks to enrich the company’s execs.’ pockets. Unfortunately, Olkjer isn’t sure if his whistle-blowing, even combined with the information from the data tape, would be able to clear Kash’s name or strike a blow against Coyote Corp. To make matters worse, in two days the Congressional probe of Coyote Corp. ends and if no substantial evidence of Coyote Corp. being up to no good is acquired by then, Coyote Corp.’s execs. will almost certainly get away with everything scott-free. Besides, if they were going to do anything, they’d have to come before Congress.

Kash’s flame from 1998, Rania, for a couple years after she finished her law degree, used to work for New Jersey Senator Corzine (Jon Corzine is a real United States Senator who has been gaining a reputation for his common-sense approach to business oversight) who sits on the Senate committee that has been operating the Congressional probe so far. It’s decided that Rania is their only shot at getting in front of Congress in two days. Kash is extremely reluctant to seek Rania’s help but gives in.

They go to visit Rania at Rutgers University where she has been working on her PhD. However, when they arrive, the instant that Rania catches sight of Kash, she beats him to within one inch of his life going so far as to use the special effects fighting style employed in The Matrix. It’s clear that there has been some bad blood between Kash and Rania since 1998 and that she’s still very mad at him. Inside her apartment, they explain the situation to her fully. She says that though it may be possible for her to get them some time in front of the Senate committee by getting in touch with Corzine, she also doesn’t think that it would do much good if all they have is Olkjer’s testimony and the broken data tape to go by. She asks Olkjer if there is anything they could use- something like records of under the table bank transactions or a list of Coyote Corp.’s dummy companies portfolio. Olkjer says that there’s no way they could get their hands on anything like that, certainly not in time. Olkjer states that he’s suspected that most of the market fraud operations that Coyote Corp. had been undertaking was under the supervision of a so-called special consultant that had been working for Coyote Corp. for the past two or three years – a former Wall Street investment banker who was crooked to the bone. When Kash asks Olkjer who the special consultant is, Olkjer responds that it’s some guy named “Morduant.” Kash can hardly believe that it all goes back to this one guy as he begins explaining to Olkjer and Rania that the guy who had tried to kill him and Mastiff at the power plant and also try to capture him and Olkjer in Houston was, in fact, Morduant. Kash becomes resolved to extract something from Morduant. Olkjer says that Morduant probably doesn’t leave many of his records lying around just anywhere seeing how he’s in the business of covert industrial operations. But he might have some things on his computer hard-disk over at his office at the Energy Wholesaler’s bumociation in Washington. Kash has a plan.

Rania will call in a favor from Corzine and secure some time for her to bring Olkjer to the Senate committee to testify – even though she’ll have to schedule the testimony to take place on the last day of the probe. Meanwhile, Kash and Sparky will infiltrate Morduant’s private office at the Energy Wholesaler’s bumociation and try to get some evidence. With a little luck, Kash can retrieve something useful and bring it to the Senate committee before it adjourns.

Rania makes some phone calls and is able to secure a small block of time before the Senate committee for her to bring Olkjer to testify. Meanwhile, Sparky and Kash prepare for the biggest heist of their lives.

The day of the Senate hearing, Rania and Olkjer come before the committee and start providing testimony that is initially regarded skeptically on account of it all being based off of one former engineer and a broken tape who’s origins Rania cannot establish with a straight answer on account of Kash having stolen it from Coyote Corp.’s New Jersey power plant. Meanwhile, Kash infiltrates Morduant’s office with Sparky’s help. Kash is able to hook-up a cellular modem to Morduant’s computer through which Sparky is able to hack into the computer and gain full access to the hard disk. Kash copies some essential files under Sparky’s direction onto a zip-disk and prepares to leave. However, as he is leaving the office, he’s discovered by Morduant and his henchmen. What ensues is an intense chase that is also a race against time with Kash trying to evade his pursuers so he can bring the zip-disk to the Senate committee at the other side of Washington before the hearing adjourns. The chase scene starts at the Energy Wholesaler’s bumociation, continues into the Washington DC subway system, and ends with Morduant chasing Kash onto the rooftop of the Hall of States Building on Capital Street where Morduant falls to his death – so as to serve poetic justice for Mastiff’s murder – and Kash barely evading his own demise.

From there, Kash rushes into the Senate hearing chamber seven blocks away from the Hall of States Building and delivers the zip-disk just as the committee’s chairman states that he’s about to adjourn the hearing and end the probe. Rania presents the zip-disk before the hearing and with some top-of-the-clbum law school legal arguments as well as the sympathetic ear of Senator Corzine, she is able to deliver a mortal blow to Coyote Corp. that ensures that Kash’s name will be cleared and that none of Coyote Corp’s corrupt execs. will get away with a thing.

Several weeks later, the vice-president has resigned and 35former Coyote Corp. execs. have been indicted on charges ranging from fraud to bribing government officials. Kash and Rania are walking across the Memorial Mall right before the reflecting pool in front of the Lincoln Memorial having recently gotten back together. They reminisce about Kash deciding to stay in Washington having accepted an offer from Senator Corzine to work for him as a Congressional aide. They talk about Rania’s plans to finish her PhD at Rutgers by the end of the year before coming to join Kash in Washington. They also discuss Doctor Olkjer’s new lecturer appointment at Rutgers. Lastly, Kash talks about Sparky and how, while he was hacking into Morduant’s computer, was able to gain access to his personal finances. As it turns out, for his services, Morduant had been paid well over $3million by Coyote Corp. However, seeing how he’s dead, Sparky decided that he would funnel it over to a couple of Swiss bank accounts he had been holding over the years to split between Kash, himself, and Rania. Rania, amazed at hearing this, asks Kash if he or his friends will ever go straight. Kash jokes that life would cease to be interesting if he did. They lock arms, and kiss, and the movie ends.

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