
The film takes place within the notoriously rough Brownsville section of Brooklyn and especially within the Van Dyke housing projects in the NYPD’s (fictional) 65th precinct. The action revolves around three policemen whose relationships to their jobs are drastically different.
The opening scene shows two men sitting in a parked car having a conversation, the man in the driver’s seat, Carlo (Vincent D’Onofrio) is then shot unexpectedly in the face by the passenger, Detective Salvatore “Sal” Procida (Ethan Hawke). Sal grabs a bag of money out of Carlo’s lap and runs away. Sal immediately confesses to a priest, not seeking God’s forgiveness but his help with his situation, which he sees as dire. His wife (Lili Taylor) is pregnant with twins. His house is too small for the four children he already has, and it also has wood mold, which is jeopardizing his wife’s health and the twins’. Desperate to move, Sal has arranged to purchase a larger home through a woman who owes him a favor. The down payment is due the following Tuesday, and Sal is still short. Sal appears to be a highly skilled and accomplished narcotics detective, but he has begun to try and pocket money from police raids.


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