| Director | Trevor White, Trevor White |
|---|---|
| Genre | biographical film, crime film, drama film |
| Runtime | 109 min |
| Country | United States |
| Budget | $4 million |
At age eighteen, James Burns is imprisoned for selling guns and possession of drugs. Three years earlier, his mother, Tracy, attempts to enroll him in school, but he is turned away due to his criminal record and recent stint in a youth detention center. One night, James meets Crystal and Drew after they steal from a convenience store, and befriends them. Crystal tells James about Roc, a gangster they work for, and offers him a chance to meet him. After learning that James is up to no good, Tracy attempts to intervene, but James rebukes her and indicates he has no plans to attend school. James removes his house arrest ankle bracelet and leaves past curfew.
James meets Roc and becomes his getaway driver for an armed robbery. However, Roc and his partner Drew are ambushed and held at gunpoint, but James sneaks inside and saves them. Impressed, Roc accepts James as a member of his crew. Crystal seduces James, who soon also meets Sarah, a timid cashier whose father owns a local convenience store. At a strip club, James and Drew burst into the back office to retrieve owed money for Roc, but it goes awry when they are subdued and beaten by the bouncers. In the parking lot, James breaks into the man's vehicle and steals a duffel bag full of guns. Roc is furious and demands that James fix his mistake. James and Crystal have a fight, and he leaves her.
Meanwhile, James befriends Sarah and begins a relationship with her. He tries to leave Roc's crew, but Roc guilt trips him into selling the guns before he does. James and Drew meet another crew to sell the guns, but the exchange goes wrong, resulting in a shootout. The police arrive while James and Drew escape. James escapes to Sarah's house and tells her to pack so they can leave together, but she refuses. The police arrest James soon after.
In prison, James makes an enemy in Guillermo, who picks on a new inmate, Chris Cesario. Later, Guillermo's gang attempts to shiv James in the shower; during the fight, Chris is stabbed instead. James has nightmares from the incident and takes up poetry in order to block out prison. James attempts to befriend a lifelong inmate named Conrad, but is rebuffed. Concerned for Chris' safety, James asks correctional officer Lieutenant Falton to place Chris in protective custody until his release hearing, but Falton refuses. Guillermo confronts James in the prison yard and attempts to provoke him, but James refuses to fight. Impressed, Conrad offers James advice for bettering himself.
Chris hangs himself in the hallway after getting another six years on his sentence. James attacks Guillermo and accidentally strikes Falton; he is subsequently placed in solitary confinement. Later, James starts a fight in the yard, but Conrad breaks it up and threatens James, demanding he keep calm and await his parole hearing.
At his hearing, James admits regret over Chris' death and his past decisions; he is subsequently released from prison and gets a job as a motel clerk. One night, an old acquaintance comes by and offers him some work, but he turns it down. Arriving at Sarah's convenience store, he finds it boarded up. He goes to Sarah's house, but her father says she has moved out. He finds her at a new house that she shares with her fiancé. At Sarah's request, he recites some of his poetry for her. James continues working and saves money in an envelope labeled "New York City".