| Director | John Flynn |
|---|---|
| Genre | action film, crime thriller film, martial arts film |
| Runtime | 88 min |
| Country | United States |
| Budget | $14 million |
| Box office | $39.7 million |
Gino Felino is a NYPD detective from Dyker Heights in Brooklyn, who has strong ties within his neighborhood. Gino's partner Bobby Lupo is murdered by Richie Madano, who shoots him multiple times in broad daylight in front of his wife and children. The three of them had previously grown up together as children.
Though nominally an enforcer for a local mafia family, Richie is a homicidal and psychotic drug addict now on an unsanctioned killing spree. His small group of henchmen are horrified by what he does, but follow him with the promise of a vault's contents of ill-gotten money at the end of the night.
Knowing Richie won't leave Brooklyn until all his deadly scores are settled, Gino asks his captain Ronnie Donziger for clearance for a manhunt, which is granted. Gino visits his mob connection, Frankie, and his boss, Don Vittorio, and tells them he will get in the way of their plans to take out Richie, whom they view as a loose cannon and a liability. While driving, Gino sees a fellow driver discard something moving from his car. Upon investigating, Gino rescues an abandoned German Shepherd puppy.
Gino starts the hunt for Richie at a bar run by Richie's brother, Vinnie. Vinnie and his friends refuse to provide information, so Gino beats up several of them, to no avail. Gino attempts to coax Richie out of hiding by arresting his sister Pattie and by talking to his estranged, elderly father.
Afterwards, Gino and his wife, Vicky, who are in the middle of a divorce, decide not to get one and reconcile, but they, along with their son, Tony, are attacked by Richie's men when they storm into their apartment. Gino kills them all and saves his wife and son. Richie later comes back to the bar and beats up Vinnie for not killing Gino earlier. He also has information leaked to the mob that he is at the bar, then emerges from hiding and ambushes the mob's hitmen in a shoot-out.
After visiting a number of local hangouts and establishments trying to find information, Gino discovers Richie killed Bobby because Bobby was having an affair with two women – Richie's girlfriend, Roxanne Ford, and a waitress named Terry Malloy. When Gino goes to Roxanne's home, he finds her dead. Gino believes that Richie killed Roxanne before he killed Bobby. Gino goes to Laurie's house and tells the widow what is going on. In Laurie's purse, Gino finds the picture that Richie dropped on Bobby's body after killing him. Bobby turns out to have been a corrupt cop who wanted a money-making lifestyle like Richie's, and Laurie knew it. Laurie had found a picture of Bobby and Roxanne having sex. She had given Richie the picture out of jealousy, never expecting Richie to kill Bobby in retaliation. Laurie took the picture away from where Richie dropped it on Bobby because she wanted to protect her husband's reputation.
Following a tip from his local snitch, Gino eventually finds Richie in a house in the old neighborhood owned by his girlfriend Rica. At the same time, a mob hit squad arrives to kill Richie. Gino gets Rica out, before taking out all of Richie's men one-by-one. Confronted by Richie with an empty gun, the two have a brutal fight to death, with Gino killing Richie with a corkscrew through his forehead. He then uses the lead mobster's gun to shoot the already-dead Richie several times, then tells him to return to his boss and take credit for Richie's death.
Gino and his wife adopt the puppy as a family pet, naming him Coraggio (Italian for courage or bravery). Whilst visiting Coney Island, they encounter the same man who abandoned the puppy earlier, and Gino confronts him. When the man attacks him, Gino defends himself, knocking the man down. Gino and his wife laugh as the puppy urinates on the man's head.