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The Night Of

The Outsider


            Set in the Bronx, New York City in the year 1963, the film opens with Richie (Ken Wahl), the leader of an Italian-American street gang called 'The Wanderers' persuades his girlfriend Despie (Toni Kalem) to go "all the way" as a World War II Hollywood war movie plays on a TV set. They have sex for the first time.Over the opening credits, we are introduced to "Baldies" a 40-strong gang of the most fearsome-looking hooligans, distinguished by their shaved heads and black leather jackets, gathering on a street corner under the command of their and their burly leader, known only as "Terror" (Erland Van Lidth) Nearby, Joey (John Friedrich), a feisty member the Wanderers, tries to persuade his friend Turkey (Alan Rosenburg) (who has just shaved his own head) not to join the Baldies. When Joey, being small but foolishly brave, insults the group's appearance, he is heard by Pee Wee (Linda Manz), a teenage tomboy and the sole member of the Baldies Ladies Auxuilary. The Baldies, including Terror and Pee Wee, chase Joey and Turkey who must literally run for their lives. As Joey runs through the streets, he signals the Wanderers for help. Richie along with another Wanderer member, named Buddy (Jim Youngs), appear, but when they see the Baldies, they join Joey and Turkey in flight.Cornered by the Baldies in a back alleyway, the four Wanderers prepare to fight. Suddenly, a tough, confident stranger named Perry (Tony Ganios) appears and intimidates the Baldies. Perry all by himself beats up several of the brawler Baldies forcing them to retreat. Terror then appears and confronts Perry. But after tense silence, to the other Wanderers' surprise, Terror suddenly backs down from fighting Perry and orders his henchmen to withdraw. Perry then leaves before the Wanderers have a chance to thank him.Later that evening, Joey meets Perry once again and learns that he lives right in his apartment building. Perry, a fellow Italian, has recently transferred to the all-boys high school that the Wanderers attend from New Jersey. Joey invites Perry to join the Wanderers and informs him that being a member of a gang is necessary for protection. Both Joey and Perry have trouble at home; Joey is afraid of his abusive and macho father Emilio (William Andrews), while Perry's widowed mother (never seen on-camera) is an alcoholic.In class, Perry watches as an argument escalates between African American and Italian students when their teacher Mr. Sharp (Val Avery) tries to teach them "brotherhood" in co-existing with each other. The argument turns violent as Richie, the leader of the Wanderers, agrees to meet gang leader Clinton (Michael Wright) and his African American followers, the "Del Bombers," for a fight on Saturday, but without guns or knives. In the meantime, Richie tries to build an alliance with the violent Irish gang, known as the "Ducky Boys," and the "Wongs," who are the Chinese, but both groups are distrustful of his offer. Although "Turkey" was a member of the Wanderers in high school, he admires the Baldies, and, still hoping to join them, he encourages Richie to reach out to the group, but Richie rejects the idea. Later, the Baldies harass Richie and Joey, while Turkey is forced to betray his friends and participate in the bullying.After the incident, Richie accepts an offer of assistance from the local Italian mafia boss owner Chubby Galasso (Dolph Sweet), who is the father of Despie. At his bowling alley, Chubby bashes a group of hustlers in front of Richie to demonstrate his authority, which leaves a chilling impression on the teenager. Instead of fighting the Del Bombers, Chubby tells Richie to settle the matter in a football game, and Chubby and his friends will bet money on the Wanderers, who are undefeated this season. To negotiate the arrangement, Chubby welcomes representatives from the Del Bombers to the bowling alley.Sometime later, Richie, Joey, Perry, and Buddy flirt with women on the sidewalk by bumping into them so they can grab at their breasts. Here, Richie meets Nina (Karen Allen), a young non-Italian teenager who is immediately attracted to Richie. Since Richie has a girl friend, Joey shouts out his telephone number to Nina. The friends follow Nina's car, but they take a wrong turn and arrive in an area controlled by the Ducky Boys. A fight ensues, and Perry's arm is broken by a baseball bat. After returning home that evening, Joey and Perry see Joey's father leaving Perry's mother's apartment... implying that they have been sleeping with each other. However, Joey is thrilled when Nina telephones and wants to join him and the Wanderers for a party, hosted by Despie at her parents' house.At the party that Saturday night, although Richie is captivated by Nina, he encourages best friend Joey to seduce her. In a separate room from the party guests, Richie and Joey play strip poker with Nina and Despie, which the guys cheat at. During the game, Despie notices Richie's interest in Nina and storms away. As soon as they are alone together, Richie and Nina kiss, then they leave to have sex in her car.Meanwhile, the Baldies are at their street corner hangout when in a drunken state, they are observed by a US Marine recruitment sergeant (Burrt Harris) working at an Armed Forces recruitment office. He invites the Baldies into his office and tricks them into joining the Marines, much to Pee Wee's dismay. Now intoxicated and looking to incite a ruckus, the Baldies arrive at the Galasso house and instruct Turkey to go inside and bring back women. As Turkey surprises the party-goers, he is assaulted by Perry. The Baldies, meanwhile, abandon their new recruit and drive away. Outside, Joey is shocked to see Richie seducing Nina in the car. When Richie tries to explain, Joey punches him and walks away, while Despie is tearful and curses her boyfriend.Elsewhere, Turkey runs through the streets to find the Baldies, but he becomes lost and encounters the Ducky Boys who are attending mass at a local church. Turkey then foolishly propositions one of the Ducky Boy leaders who investigates Turkey's shouting. The Ducky Boys then chase Turkey and terrorize him. After climbing up an elevated subway structure, Turkey looses his balance and plunges to his death. Later, at school, Joey mourns Turkey, telling classmates that he will be missed.Meanwhile, the Wanderers continue to ignore Richie for his betrayal of Joey. A few days later, on November 22, 1963, Richie and Despie encounter each other at a storefront, where the news of President Kennedy's assassination unfolds on television, they comfort one another and reconcile. Despie reveals she is pregnant as a result of their one-time sexual encounter. Chubby then confronts the young man and declares that he must take responsibility and marry his daughter and move into their house. Without waiting for a reply, Chubby congratulates Richie and calls him son-in-law.Elsewhere, Joey tries to cope with his abusive father, Emilio, while making a banner for the football game. On the day of the event at Van Courtland Park, the Del Bombers arrive at the stadium with confidence, accompanied by cheerleaders and music. Meanwhile, Richie hides on the sidelines while the Wanderers start the game, and Joey replaces him as quarterback. As the Del Bombers take a commanding lead, Joey becomes frustrated. Richie then arrives on the field, apologizes to his friend and guides the team toward tying the score. Suddenly, a large number of Ducky Boys appear at the stadium, wielding sticks and knives. As spectators flee, the Wanderers and the Del Bombers brace for a fight. Displaying their martial arts skills, the Wongs also enter the melee and assault the Ducky Boys. Joey's brutish father also joins the action. Despite the injuries, the combined alliance of gangs impedes the attack, and the Ducky Boys scramble from the field. In his rage to fight, however, Emilio strikes his son, knocking him to the ground.Afterward, Joey stays with Perry and declares he is never returning home, while Perry shares that his mother is an alcoholic. The two friends plan to drive out of town that night and leave for California to begin a new life. Emilio then arrives at the apartment. When he intimidates his son, Perry defends Joey, and a fight ensues. Joey hits his father on the head with a glass bottle, and the boys flee.Later, the Wanderers, the Del Bombers, and the Wongs surprise Richie with a bachelor party at the restaurant where he works as a dishwasher. Even Pee Wee attends the party, revealing that Terror and all of the Baldies are gone, having left days earlier for Marine boot camp. During the celebration, Chubby offers Richie a job in his organization, and Richie is too afraid to refuse; he will join the "family business". Unexpectedly, Richie sees Nina walking past the restaurant and follows her. Through a window, he watches with regret as she meets her parents at a folk song nightclub. Bob Dylan is performing at the club with the song "The Times They Are a-Changin'". Accepting that their brief relationship is over, Richie makes his way back to the party.When Richie returns to his bachelor party, Joey and Perry announce that they are leaving town for Los Angeles and say goodbye. Richie is despondent, but he is soon uplifted as the guests sing the song, "The Wanderer," in his honor. The final shot shows Joey and Perry driving away into New Jersey and heading for a new life in California.
    

The Wanderers


            The Hustler is back, or is he?Setting his eyes on Vincent (Tom Cruise), a young and talented, but quirky and obnoxious, pool player, rekindles Fast Eddie Felson's (Paul Newman) passion for pool. Vincent has a valuable attribute in Eddie's eyes - anonymity. Eddie is well-known and, consequently, incapable of success as a road warrior in the seedy world of action pool, but in Vincent, he sees a meal ticket, and takes him under his wing. Unfortunately, Vincent needs some schooling, not in playing pool, but in the art of baiting, taunting, and deceiving potential opponents and side bettors to trap them. Vincent has a hard time adapting to Eddie's methods, clearly troubled by the inherent immorality, and it doesn't appear that Eddie's lessons will ever sink in. At his weakest, Vincent is incapable of holding back in a gambling session with America's best big action player, Grady Seasons (Keith McCready). Eddie's lessons will surely sink in at some point. Or will they?Eddie gives Vincent some money to go on the road, and Vincent, at long last transforming himself into the hustler Eddie had always wanted him to be, makes a lot of money. Shortly after, Vincent and Eddie enter the same pool tournament in Atlantic City, but the action is hottest in the practice room. It is at this tournament where Eddie does some soul searching, and when he, surprisingly, turns down a shot at having a piece of Vincent's practice room gambling action, it is the onset of his rejection of pool's seedier side. In Vincent, Eddie sees some of himself, and what he sees repulses him. Eddie now wants to win on merit, rather than through a hustle, and his passion for winning fair and square shows in his exuberance in his tournament matches.All of a sudden, he is the Eddie that beat Minnesota Fats through excellence, rather than the Eddie who had successfully hustled many, and his self-esteem seems to be peaking just when he learns that Vincent dumped their tournament match to turn a large profit in side betting, a clear blow to Eddie's pride. From Eddie's vantage point, dumping has gone from being an undeniable aspect of betting on pool to an objectionable practice. The Vincent he knew had refused to dump or deceive, but now, dumping and deception are art forms that Vincent and his girlfriend and new manager (Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio) have mastered. Suddenly, the tournament no longer represents Eddie's best chance to regain his self-esteem. Why, one must wonder, is Eddie practicing immeidately after he forfeits his very next match in the tournament?Because he is preparing for the only match out there that matters to him......the one against Vincent.....and his resolve to play and win that match is his new raison d'etre.
    

The Color of Money


            In a Brooklyn housing project, a group of "clockers" - street-level drug dealers - sell drugs for Rodney Little (Delroy Lindo), a local drug lord. Rodney tells Ronald "Strike" Dunham (Mekhi Phifer), one of his lead clockers, that another dealer, Darryl Adams (Steve White), is stealing from him and "got to be got", implying that he wants Strike to kill Darryl. Strike then meets with his brother, Victor Dunham (Isaiah Washington) and tries to persuade Victor to kill Darryl Adams.Rocco Klein (Harvey Keitel) and Larry Mazilli (John Turturro), homicide detectives, ride to the scene of Darryl Adams' murder. Larry and Rocco receive a phone call from another detective who says a man has confessed at a local church that he killed Darryl. The police meet Strike's older brother Victor at the church and take him in for questioning. In the interrogation room, Victor tells Rocco that he shot Darryl Adams in self-defense. Rocco finds holes in this story and starts looking into Victor's background which includes two jobs, a wife, two children, no criminal record, and aspirations to move out of the projects; Rocco comes to the conclusion that Victor is covering for his younger brother.Rocco pressures Strike but Victor sticks to his story, so Rocco convinces Rodney that Strike has confessed and informed on Rodney's drug ring. Rocco arrests Rodney and then humiliates Strike in front of his crew. Strike gets together some money and decides to leave town, but a younger boy who admired Strike shoots Errol, Rodney's enforcer, with Strike's gun. Rocco lets Strike leave town.
    

Clockers


            New York Police detective Frank Keller (Al Pacino) investigates the murder of a man in Manhattan, shot dead while face down naked in his bed while listening to a 45rpm recording of "Sea of Love". Keller has three clues - a lipstick-smeared cigarette, a wanted ad the dead man placed in a newspaper and a perfect set of fingerprints. Immediate suspicion falls on a vengeful woman who answered his lonely hearts personal advertisement.A second man dies in the same manner in Queens. Detective Sherman Touhey (John Goodman) suggests they collaborate. Both victims had put rhyming ads in the paper. They track down Raymond Brown (Michael O'Neill), the only other man with a rhyming ad. He's a married man and admits placing the ad, but swears on his children's lives that he threw away all the letters and never saw anyone.Keller has an idea - place their own rhyming ad in the paper, take any women who respond to a restaurant and take the prints from their glasses. Keller's boss (John Spencer) thinks it is a bad idea. However, Brown soon turns up dead.Keller has dinner with several women, while Sherman posing as a waiter puts their empty glasses into evidence bags. One of the women, Helen Cruger (Ellen Barkin) snubs Keller and leaves before she takes a drink. Keller bumps into her again at a market, but this time, Cruger is more friendly. Keller goes back to Cruger's place, ostensibly to get her fingerprints. He panics when he finds a gun in her purse, but it turns up to be just a starting pistol.Keller and Cruger begin a serious relationship. Keller has a chance to obtain Cruger's fingerprints on a glass, but decides to wipe the glass clean. Their relationship proves rocky when Cruger discovers that Keller is a cop.Cruger's ex-husband Terry (Michael Rooker) breaks into Keller's apartment and threatens him with a gun. He makes Keller lie on his bed and show him how he made love to Helen, just as he had done with his ex-wife's other three boyfriends. Keller overpowers Terry and tries to call the police, but the killer is wild and lunges at him. In the struggle, Terry is accidentally thrown through the window and plunges to his death.Keller and Cruger reunite. She forgives him, and they resume their relationship.
    

Sea of Love


            This movie begins with airline owner Tom Mullen (Mel Gibson) hosting a party at his swank New York City apartment. The party is being held to unveil his latest commercial which gives background information on how Tom became a self-made multi-millionaire airline entrepreneur. Interspersed with this is a montage of a group of kidnappers setting up a lair designed to hold a hostage.Later, Tom and his wife Kate (Rene Russo) and his son Sean (Brawley Nolte) attend a science fair in Central Park that Kate is a judge at. During this fair, Tom's son Sean wanders away and is kidnapped by men who throw him in the back of a white van and drop off. Tom and Kate quickly realize their son is missing and frantically begin to search for him.The kidnappers get in touch with the Mullens with a video message. The video is of Sean, blindfolded and chained up to a bed. An individual whose voice is electronically disguised demands $2 million in ransom, and threatens to have Sean killed if the police or the media are informed of what's happening.Even though the message said not to, Tom and Kate decide that someone must be alerted. They call up the FBI, who show up under the guise of being a crew of carpenters come to do renovation on the Mullens' penthouse, led by agent Lonnie Hawkins (Delroy Lindo). Hawkins asks if Tom and Kate want to negotiate or give in to the ransom demands, and finds that the two already have two suitcases all prepared for a hand-off, awaiting further instructions from the kidnappers.Meanwhile, in Brooklyn, the NYPD are conducting an investigation on a detained thief who tried to rob a corner bodega. As Detective Jimmy Shaker (Gary Sinise) and his partner interview the thief, he notices another man, Cubby Barnes, (Donnie Wahlberg) coming into the store buying kid's cereal and some video tapes.After seeing his partner and the detained thief off, Jimmy tails Cubby to the kidnapper's hideout. Sneaking in, he passes the locked room with Sean inside, and rousts Cubby by putting a gun to his head. As it turns out, Jimmy is actually the ringleader of the kidnappers, and chides Cubby for his overt recklessness, and he's lucky that none of the other cops at the bodega thought it suspicious that he, someone with a long criminal record, was buying kids' cereal.Back at Tom's penthouse, he confesses to Hawkins that a former union head of the machinist union may have had an involvement with the kidnapping of his son. Tom confides that he bribed the union president to call off a strike and the president went to jail while Tom escaped prosecution. Hawkins arranges a jailhouse meeting between Tom and the union leader in prison, but it is apparent from the meeting that the former union president had nothing to do with the kidnapping.Shortly thereafter, Jimmy calls with instructions regarding the drop-off of the ransom money. While on the phone, the FBI hit a major snag when they are unable to get a lock on the kidnapper's location due to technical scrambling on Jimmy's part. The FBI suggests that their 'double' for Tom make the drop, but Tom insists he do it himself. He is also set up with a wire to record any conversations.Tom reaches a specific street location, and his car's cellular phone then directs him to a gym. Jimmy instructs Tom to take the money with him, and dive into the gym's swimming pool to retrieve a locker-room key. This move causes the wire on Tom to short-circuit, destroying the FBI's planted mechanism. Tom then finds the locker, and a radio, which instructs him to put on some clothes provided in the locker, and put the money in two large duffel bags before he heads to a parked car outside to drive to the drop-off point. This leaves the suitcases in the gym, and out of the FBI's reach.Tom drives on as the sun goes down, not realizing that Jimmy is following him a few cars behind. Over the radio, Jimmy derides Tom that he seems to have no problems with buying his way out of tight situations (such as the one with the union leader). When it seems that none of Tom's questions or requests to speak to his son are being met, he pulls off the side of the road, though too late for Jimmy to notice. After awhile, the voice on the radio grows fainter, and Tom now realizes that Jimmy was following him. Pulling back onto the road, the signal grows stronger, and Jimmy instructs Tom to turn off towards an upcoming rock quarry. Here, he will turn over the money and receive an address to go to next.Arriving at the quarry, Cubby shows up, demanding the money. However, when Tom asks for the address, Cubby ignores him and struggles for the money. As this goes on, an FBI SWAT team shows up in two helicopters, preparing to capture Cubby. Cubby takes the money and tries to flee on an ATV. The SWAT team chase him down, with Cubby firing back at them, managing to wound one of them as they to rappel down to the ground. One of the snipers in the helicopters take a well-placed shot that hits Cubby in the neck, knocking him off the bike. Tom goes over hoping this person will reveal where his son is, but Cubby is mortally wounded, and bleeds to death without giving up the address.Tom is furious, blaming the FBI for killing the only known link to his son. However, Hawkins pacifies him by explaining that identifying the drop man does give them a lead. It turns out Cubby is a petty thief, and he runs a lot with his brother Clark (Liev Schreiber), who is a much higher fish in the criminal underworld. Finding Clark might lead them to Sean.At the hideout, Clark is furious over the death of his younger brother. He and Jimmy's girlfriend Maris Conner (Lili Taylor), who works for the Mullens as a part-time caterer, are in total agreement to simply kill Sean and give up. However, Jimmy angrily reprimands both that the plan for the ransom is still going to happen.Back at Tom's penthouse, the media have gotten word of the drop-off and Sean's kidnapping, and details are now being televised on television. Jimmy makes another digitally-altered call to Tom, giving him new instructions on where to drop off the money this time. After using the FBI's double to throw off the media, Tom attempts to follow the instructions. However, after listening to Jimmy's instructions, Tom changes his mind. He then informs the kidnapper to turn to the local Channel 5 news and watch it for the next few hours, before disconnecting the call.Tom then goes to the news station where their broadcast is interrupted for a special report from Tom. Seated behind a desk, with the $2 million ransom laid out around him, Tom then delivers a message to the kidnapper: He will not pay the ransom. Instead, he has decided to use the ransom money as a reward for information leading to the arrest or death of the kidnapper. Tom claims that the kidnapper will never get his ransom money, and will lift the reward if his son is let free.Tom goes back to his shocked wife and Hawkins, who have never heard of such a tactic. Tom is able to convince his wife that this is the best strategy to get their son back. He is convinced that based on how Cubby behaved at the first drop that the kidnappers plan on killing Sean when they get paid.Jimmy is losing control of his crew, who now want to dispose of Sean more than ever now that a bounty has been laid on their heads. Desperate, Jimmy sets up a new plan in hopes to rein in Tom's plan. He sends a note to Kate with the stipulation that she appear at a renovated Church at 2am without her husband's knowledge. Kate goes, where Jimmy ambushes her (wearing a mask to hide his face). Jimmy threatens to gut Sean unless his ransom demands are met, and leaves Kate shaken, along with Sean's shirt covered in blood stains.Coming back to her home, Kate is obviously shaken up and her faith in Tom's plan begins to falter. Hawkins plays on that, attempting to create a rift so that the ransom is paid - this course of action he thinks has the highest probability for safe recovery of Sean.However, Tom has other ideas. Leaving his apartment building, he walks right out into the midst of the media gathered on his doorstep, and reports that he is now doubling the reward to $4 million.Jimmy then calls up Tom again, allowing Sean to speak a few words, and then demanding that Tom pay the ransom. However, neither man is willing to give the other the edge, and a shouting match ensues before the voice on the other end of the line says he'll kill Sean now, and fires off a gun at the nearby wall, to bluff Tom and Kate into thinking he's killed Sean. The line cuts off, and Tom and Kate fear the worst.Back near Jimmy's place, the plan appears to have fallen apart. Jimmy goes to a nearby laundromat to think, as nearby, Clark and the technical specialist, Miles Roberts (Evan Handler) load their white van to leave. Back in the house, Maris contemplates killing Sean again.Jimmy then formulates a way to salvage the situation. From the laundromat, he takes out his radio and calls his dispatcher to make a distress call. He then goes outside, flashing his badge as he attempts to 'arrest' Miles and Clark. Realizing they've been double crossed, the two try to drive off, but not before Jimmy kills both of them. Planting a fired revolver on Miles, Jimmy is then caught off-guard when Maris emerges from the house, shooting him. Though it pains him to do so, Jimmy shoots Maris down too. As police units race to the scene, Jimmy staggers back into the house, and plants himself next to Sean's bedside, radioing in that he has found the kidnappers' lair and Sean. He remains in this position until the Emergency Service Unit breaches the place and discovers him.Tom and Kate are soon after alerted to the discovery, and are reunited with their son. As Jimmy is loaded onto an ambulance, Tom thanks him for saving his son's life.Over the course of the next few days, Jimmy is hailed as a hero by his peers and the public. Meanwhile, at the Mullens', Sean is still having trouble readjusting after his kidnapping. He is scared to be left in the dark, and his eyes have not yet readjusted back to natural light after having been blindfolded during almost the entire kidnapping.A couple days afterwards, Jimmy shows up at Tom's penthouse to collect the $4 million reward. Tom complies, and they go to his study where he begins to write out a check. As he does so, Jimmy then asks Tom a loaded' question: Why didn't he simply pay the ransom?Tom explains it was because the kidnapper was 'human garbage,' and that in the end if push had come to shove, he probably would have paid 10 times the reward to get his son back.As they talk, Sean wanders into Tom's eyeline off to the right, and upon seeing a bit of Jimmy's face and hearing his voice, Sean freezes up and urinates down the side of his pants. Tom catches this in his peripheral vision, and recalls that some news reports stated that they did not believe that Maris was the main kidnapper, and that she may have had an accomplice that escaped. Sean quietly leaves nearby, as Tom goes over and presents the check to Jimmy.However, Jimmy has noticed Tom's hesitation, and now figures the businessman is on to him. Jimmy then demands that Tom call his bank and wire the $4 million directly to his account, producing a gun to emphasize the threat. Tom counters by offering to take Jimmy to his bank and wire the money from there, after which Tom will allow Jimmy to be flown anywhere. Jimmy reluctantly accepts this, but still threatens Tom that one day he very well could return to get his son again.The two leave the apartment, and Tom makes a call on his car phone. However, calling under the pretense that he is making jet arrangements for Jimmy, Tom has actually contacted Hawkins and the FBI investigators. Tom mentions that they'll be stopping by his bank before heading to the airport. Jimmy suspects that Tom may be attempting to double-cross him, but before he can turn the speaker-phone on, Tom has ended the call.After exchanging pleasantries with a few police officers outside the bank, Tom and Jimmy enter the bank and are greeted like royalty, and Tom wires the money through to Jimmy's account. This is all to stall for time, as the FBI tips off the NYPD about Jimmy. Jimmy realizes this when they emerge from the bank and the police officers from earlier try to detain him. Jimmy pulls his gun and shoots them both, before darting into traffic. Tom quickly follows and attempts to subdue Jimmy. Eventually, the fight spills into the front of a storefront. Tom grabs Jimmy's gun and holds it towards him, just as the police arrive and demand their surrender. Tom lowers the gun, but Jimmy, though badly wounded, reaches for his backup weapon in an ankle holster. As he draws, Tom spots him and fires once, and Hawkins fires thrice, all four bullets hitting Jimmy and killing him.Kate soon after appears, and she and Tom walk off as the NYPD secure the crime scene. Over the course of the beginning of the credits, we watch as the scene is cleaned up, and before evening arrives, the once violent scene has returned to normalcy on the street corner.
    

Ransom

Child 44

New York Stories

Mad Dog and Glory

Bunny

Shaft

Kiss of Death

Bloodbrothers


            Brenda Martin (Julianne Moore), a single mom works at a day care at Armstrong housing project in Dempsy, New Jersey. Brenda lives in the small blue-collar town of Gannon, which is connected to Dempsy, but Gannon is considered the better of the two communities. After work, Brenda walks into the emergency room with blood all over her hands, and the Dempsy Police are called to the hospital. Police detective Lorenzo Council (Samuel L. Jackson) is on the case. Brenda tells detective Council that she was carjacked and assaulted by a black man in the housing projects. After some time goes by, Brenda finally breaks down and tells Council that her four-year old son, Cody, was asleep in the back seat of the car. The two communities begin to search for the kidnapped child. However, the carjacking suspect is presumed to come from the projects, and racial tension comes to the surface, pitting the two towns, and the white cops and black cops against each other. Douglas Young (the-movie-guy)(...continued by KrystelClaire)
Brenda has to be taken to hospital. She is hysterical, and her two hands are bloodied and wounded, presumably because the male criminal pulled her out of the car violently and dragged her through the leaves and twigs dirty ground.It also happens that Brenda used to be a drug addict five years ago, and that her brother is also a cop. Danny Martin (Ron Eldard) arrives at the hospital from work and produces a caption photograph of the little boy, Cody (Marlon Sherman). She speaks of a mysterious young black man who tapped on the windowglass of her car. Lorenzo knows that the case has potential to escalate out of control because of the race stint of the case. Some of his workmates even deem Lorenzo unfit to lead the case to a good end, because of his diabetes and his unsharp mind.Brenda doesn't seem to take stress well. She was distracted at hospital by the ramblings of several patients (Colman Domingo & Teodorina Bello) in the same room as her. She asks another cop (Jason Furlani) if he's got a child, and he shows a picture he's carrying with him inside of his uniform cap. When pressured by Lorenzo, Brenda seems to be unable to take control of her own emotions, and she slaps herself repeatedly.The area is cordoned off. A man tries to escape from a window, and he eventually falls down. There is chaos everywhere, the police are unable to stop the complaining tenants, and there are questions again of the abilities of Lorenzo to remain detached in the case.Lorenzo accompanies Brenda almost everywhere, even to her home, to check her out. Outside her home, she finds two cars parked, which worries him, so he goes to check them out. Marie (LaTanya Richardson Jackson) says that the matter may escalate out of control, because Brenda was almost a public figure, well-known, cherished and respected in the community, so there's need for the case to be wrapped up nicely and fast. Outside, Lorenzo leaves with the keys of a drunk young man who was about to drive off. The black car follows him in the night with two women in it. Lorenzo talks to them. Karen Collucci (Edie Falco) belongs to an organization who looks for disappeared children. Lorenzo knows that they found the body of a boy, Cory Baker, who had disappeared in another case, so he takes their card.Lorenzo visits his brother, Jason Council (Dorian Missick), who's doing time in jail. He's got himself a tattoo of Tupak, the rapper. They joke about not wanting to have Tiger Woods tattooed in his arms.Other cops, like Lt Gold (Peter Friedman) are going around looking in people's homes almost randomly, which creates more angst and anger in the residents. Lorenzo thinks that nobody in the projects knows anything, in spite of the kidnapping having happened in the woods nearby. Another possibility which is going around is that Brenda is faking everything. She hurt or killed the child and now she's playing the suffering distraught mother, but Lorenzo doesn't really believe in that possibility, as she has looked into his eyes and showed to him how much she's suffering, as he tells to another cop. This other cop tells Lorenzo to pass the case to him, unless he gets burnout.
An angry tennant (Gil Deeble) acknowledges Lorenzo "Hey, man, whacha gonna do about this?". Lorenzo sets to work but doesn't answer.Danny is present when Lorenzo tries to question Brenda again. Danny thinks that Brenda may have started to use drugs again, which she denies strongly. When Danny looks at her with skepticism, she starts to bang on a wall with her bandaged swollen hands. Danny leaves, freaked out. Marie and Lorenzo stay with calmed-down Brenda.She puts on her handsets to isolate herself. There is chaos on the projects, with media asking questions, angered tenants and crazy bystanders. Brenda keeps on being vague about what happened that night, so Lorenzo sits down and asks her whether she killed her son. She looks a bit crazy, and as though she were overacting. She says that having her baby made her a million times better. Lorenzo tells her that he believes in god, and that there is something in the back of her head. Lorenzo tells her that he won't rest until he finds her son.When Brenda comes back to her primary school classroom, all the children hug her. She says that she's okay, and she shows her pupils the photograph of Cody. Meanwhile, Lorenzo asks the substitute teacher about Brenda. Lorenzo learns that she didn't work the day of the kidnapping at all. Cheryl Willis (Herself) is on TV, sending a public message asking for the public to give information anonymously; it is also Danny's plea.The cops are going door-to-door asking people about that night, and Rafik (Fly Williams III) runs away. A mother of one of Brenda's pupils tells her to stay away from her child. Back at the police station, the cops hit Rafik for no particular reason. Vicky (Haneefah Wood) and Doreen (Portia) get hysterical when they see that. Rafik's only crime looks to have been possession.His superiors want Lorenzo off the case, but he wants to go on with it, believing that there is a lot Brenda is holding back about what happened that night. He asks Karen for help while Danny keeps on appearing on TV. He asks her whether she has been to Freedomland, and she questions back if they still look for rookies there.Karen talks to Brenda in front to Marie, Louis, Elaine (Donna Cutugno) and Tina (Genevieve Hudson-Price). Brenda doesn't look to be interested in talking to them and refuses to speak of that night. Only 24 hours have passed by at this point. In the area, there are four places where the child could be, but three of them have been eliminated (a park, a golf course, a cemetery), as there is no place to hide there and they have all been checked out. That only leaves them Freedomland, an old estate children's home behind some woods, which was shut down in the 1950's. They are all going there to check it out, including Brenda and Lorenzo.There are leaflets being passed with photographs of Cody Martin. Brenda doesn't want to enter the place. A priest (Philip Bosco) is telling people to enter Freedomland and search the place for Cody's body. There are dogs and hundreds of volunteers with sticks. Elaine and Tina tell their stories, and they are doing that because of sympathy. They look among the debris inside the main building. The place is not too safe, so Lorenzo tells everybody to stay together. Brenda starts whimpering again and doesn't want to be left alone. There are ragged dolls and childrens' shoes everywhere. Brenda first lays herself down and then leaves the building. Karen speaks to her, and Brenda rocks herself back and forth, like a crazy woman.Brenda says that she wasn't there. Finally, she says where Cody is. In the woods, she can't find the exact spot. There are some stones placed in a particular way. Karen finds it, and Brenda says that she buried Cody all on her own. Lorenzo insists that Brenda picks one of the stones: they are really heavy. Brenda couldn't have done it on her own; Lorenzo tells her that one lie more, and he's off the case.Outside, while they take Brenda away, a man is telling everybody that white people still blame all crimes on blacks. They find the body, but Lorenzo is still unsure that she should be charged on homicide grounds. The same cop who first devised and organized the blockade, now wants to get rid of it and wash his hands. Lorenzo says that there was never any reason for the blockade, apart from the cop's attitude, that the blockade would only affect a bunch of black animals on welfare (Lorenzo's quote, not mine).Danny arrives, asking for a lawyer for Brenda. She says that there was a Billy UnknownSurname with her. She used to try to help children at the Rainbow Club. Billy (Anthony Mackie) was unemployed at that time. Felicia thought that he was full of crap, but Brenda identified with him. Brenda can't resist the pressure of having to take care of Cody 24 hours a day. When she wants to go out, sometimes he'd wake up and cry for her. Billy and Brenda want to go out together, but Cody starts calling for her. Cody tells her that if she went, she'd be sorry. There is a lot of rambling on Brenda's part. When she returns home, she smells something awful, probably the cough syrup Cody had on his own. At that point, she is convinced that Cody is dead, because "a mother always knows". Lorenzo tries to tell her that it was an accident. Brenda says she's done and that she wants to be charged. Lorenzo tries to convince to talk about Billy, so that he can be charged as well. Billy took Cody's body wrapped in a blanket and buried him where Brenda told him.Lorenzo's bleeper sounds. Brenda becomes hysterical and asks if Cody is OK. Lorenzo will charge her with homicide. Lorenzo starts speaking into a microphone. Brenda becomes violently hysterical, shouting like a madwoman. Three police officers are needed to take her away. Billy Williams arrives, also arrested. He says to Lorenzo that he only helped Brenda.Meanwhile, there is a riot on the streets. People are running all over the place, there is fire everywhere, Lorenzo and other cops arrive at the place. The riot police and the crowd are face-to-face. Lorenzo and the rest are trying to calm people down. There is a moment of quiet when Lorenzo prevents a boy from burning some boxes. Rafik looks to a particular riot police officer. Lorenzo tells one of the riot police officers to back off so that the people will have the opportunity to back off as well. Rafik steps in and punches one of them, as if he had something private against him. This is an all-out war.Mayhem ensues.Lorenzo gets in the middle and he gets punched / hit with a club. He thinks he sees ---- staring at him. He remembers Cody, the child Brenda thinks she saw at hospital. Lorenzo passes out.A judge (Patricia Mauceri) charges Brenda Martin with the murder of Cody. Her attorney (Richard Price) almost has to answer on her behalf. Lorenzo is there, sad but not hurt. Brenda is on suicide watch. Lorenzo feels responsible somehow. Brenda suddenly blurts out that she loves him and kisses him on his lips and leaves. Lorenzo also checks on his brother. Lorenzo cries and hugs his brother.He goes to the site where Cody's body was found: there is a shrine of photographs, flowers, balloons outside derelict Freedomland.
    

Richard Price

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