Low level mafia connected guy from New Jersey wanders back into town and asks to be set up with some work. The guy he asks the favor of is reluctant because he doesn't like his ethic of making a lot of money and then disappearing until he needs more. Eventually coming around our hero gets work and hooks up with another mob guy played by Joe Pesci. Unfortunately our hero's temper and lack of good judgment gets him some enemies and it soon becomes clear that he's his own worst enemy. Good mob movie was apparently a one shot deal from its director who died in the early 80's. It's a shame because the film has a nice sense of place lacking from most big budget films. It's the sort of thing you stumble on when channels surfing on a rainy weekend. If there is anything wrong with the film it's with our hero who is a nice guy, but clearly has a death wish since he is constantly doing things that tick people off starting with beating up a mafia don's nephew for the hell of it. Watching the film you can see he's doomed from the start and it's all his own doing so the film becomes a vigil waiting for the other shoe to drop. This doesn't mean the film is bad, its not, its just that it could have been better. (Perhaps if they had cast Joe Pesci in the lead, since he's infinitely more charismatic then the guy who was cast.

Just got this in the mail and I was positively surprised. As a big fan of 70's cinema it doesn't take much to satisfy me when it comes to these kind of flicks. Despite the obvious low budget on this movie, the acting is overall good and you can already see why Pesci was to become on of the greatest actors ever. I'm not sure how authentic this movie is, but it sure is a good contribution to the mob genre.....

Very good 1970s movie about mob operations in New Jersey. When a "maverick" gangster doesn't play by the rules of the neighborhood, sooner or later, it's time for elimination.Joe Pesci was true to his character -- smooth and funny. He only gets better with age. His face and present day fame should not have been used on the DVD cover to sell this "B" grade movie as he was only the third billed star.Dated 1970's printed wide lapel shirts and lesser quality background music make for a distraction. Nice to see the 1970's big cars. However, the acting is good. Nakedness on the part of Anne Johns was not needed to make this mob story work. And, she does not show up in the database as every acting again in any film other than this one. Too bad; she did a good job!Moral of the story: Don't get your "Don" upset with you.If you are wanting to see something different when you wake up in the middle of the night then check out this DVD. It was part of a three-movie-on-one DVD $5.88 special at the local discount store.

***1 Spoiler ahead***I recently saw this movie on a DVD, which was obviously produced to capitalize on Joe Pesci's stardom (he's all over the packaging, yet is a central but relatively secondary character in the film). That said, it's well worth the time to watch Joe in it. The film print quality would have to be characterized as fair/poor, but it's a decent story, and it's fun to see Joe P. "back-in-the-day". His acting style was top-notch right from the get-go.The background music sounds like stuff rejected from your average "Streets of San Francisco" episode, and the acting is a little suspect in spots, but check it out anyway. Look for "Billy Batts" from Goodfellas...he gets it again, only this time on the toilet.