Synopsis
What does levine do when he's almost caught during the car chase?
Payphone (song)
The video begins with a flashforward that starts with a beleaguered Levine torching his ride and dialing (possibly) his lost love's telephone number at a payphone. Another typical day at a Las Vegas (seen from the decals on the police cars) bank for Levine is shown next, which turns into chaos when some bandits enter and take charge (one of them is played by the band's lead guitarist – James Valentine – and some of the other bank robbers are probably played by drummer Matt Flynn, bassist Mickey Madden and current keyboardist, originally a touring-only band member, PJ Morton) – all of this happens while the song plays in the background. Levine grabs a gun from one of the robbers and threatens to get rid of them. He and his female co-worker (played by Dutch model Bregje Heinen) escape though Levine is shot in the arm, but when some cops mistake him for one of the robbers, Levine tells the female co-worker to hide in a car and steals an AC Cobra 427 that belongs to Wiz Khalifa to get away from them. A car chase follows and when Levine is almost caught by the police, he steers the stolen convertible onto the wrong side of the road and causes a huge explosion, which destroys one of the police cars. When he finally reaches his destination in Los Angeles, he passes by a place where Wiz, the owner of the car, performed his rap earlier. After Levine gets out of the convertible, it also explodes and he enters a booth, injured, with the titular payphone, probably to call for help (It is also likely that he is calling Heinen) – this connects to the beginning of the video.