AllMovie

In this tough contemporary noir drama, Frankie (Dennis Hopper) is a low-level "mechanic" working for second-rate mobster Sal (Michael Madsen). Frankie dreams of rising into the upper echelons of organized crime and commiting a series of bloody reprisals against those who have wronged him. He also has ambitions of starting a new career as a screenwriter, but he realizes that he's a nobody and likely to stay that way. Through Sal's connections with the porn industry, Frankie meets Joey (Kiefer Sutherland), a former film student who now cranks out by-the-numbers sex films, and becomes infatuated with Joey's leading lady, Margaret (Daryl Hannah), a drug-addicted "actress" who has seen better days. Joey, addicted to gambling, is deep in debt with Sal and is forbidden to visit the racetrack; Frankie is eager to get on Joey's good side and offers to place his bets for him while he searches for a way to rescue Margaret from the hell she's created for herself. Screenwriter Dayton Callie appears as Vic, one of Sal's strong-arm men.