ROBERT Harmon's super-charged thriller has nothing to do with dandy rogues on horseback demanding 'stand and deliver!'.

Instead, these highwaymen are duelling motorists - one a hit-and-run psychopath, the other a vengeful widower - locked in a tense game of cat and mouse on America's open highways.

Five years ago, Rennie Cray (Caviezel) watched helplessly as James Fargo (Feore) mowed down his beautiful wife Olivia in his dark green 1972 Cadillac Eldorado.

Fargo claimed it was a accident - Olivia walked out into the road - and the cops swallowed his sob story. Rennie did not.

Hungry for retribution, Rennie hunted down his wife's killer and tried to kill Fargo using his own car as a lethal weapon.

Rennie served three years in jail for his crime; Fargo spent 18 months in hospital being 'rebuilt from the bottom up'.

Now, these two bitter adversaries prowl the country, goading each other by B radio.

After months of silence, Fargo randomly selects pretty choir singer Molly Poole (Mitra) as his next victim, signalling his evil intent by orchestrating a massive pile-up in a tunnel from which she is the sole survivor.

Marked for death, Molly has nowhere to turn, until Rennie speeds to her rescue one dark night in his high octane 1968 Plymouth Barracuda.

Unfortunately, Molly's nightmare ordeal is just beginning. She is the live bait that Rennie needs to finally catch his prey.

Meanwhile, tenacious traffic investigator Macklin (Faison) starts to delve into Rennie's tragic past and he mistakenly comes to the conclusion that the widower is the killer.

Highwaymen follows in the same narrative tread-marks as Duel, Breakdown and Joyride, and director Harmon delivers some polished action set-pieces.

At 81 minutes, the film doesn't outstay its welcome and the cast are solid, given the scant raw materials they have to work with.

Unfortunately, Craig Mitchell and Hans Bauer's screenplay isn't entirely roadworthy, demanding massive suspensions of disbelief, such as Rennie's spooky ability to track down Fargo almost by sniffing the air.

Also, common sense and plausibility go up in smoke whenever Rennie and Fargo get behind the wheels of their fighting machines.

Most films of this genre have a couple of genuine surprises in the gas tank but from the moment the opening credits appear, Highwaymen is running on empty.

DAMON SMITH