In 1975 in the Bay Ridge area in Brooklyn, an enclave of working-class, hardscrabble families live with a societal code that discourages any aspirations to leave the neighborhood. In the thick of it are two brothers, Danny (Geoff Wigdor) and Brian (Nick Thurston), who dare to dream of life elsewhere. But their reasons for leaving, and their means of doing so, are so opposed that they threaten to destroy their entire family and, potentially, each other.
Elder brother Danny has suffered years of physical and verbal abuse from his flinty, alcoholic father (Stephen Lang) and is relying on his criminal ambitions to get the two brothers as far from Bay Ridge as possible. Brian doesn't share Danny's enthusiasm for crime and keeps his hopes and heart locked away in the basement of their apartment building, where he spends all of his free time drawing and painting.
When Whitey (Peter Riegert), the owner of a failing local cinema where Brian works, announces a concert by The Rolling Stones that will share profits with the young man, Brian guardedly hopes that his secret ambition to attend art school might finally be realized. But soon Danny's reckless crimes, his father's alcohol-soaked temper and Brian's flailing attempts to avoid both collide and the resulting turmoil ends in an upheaval that affects the entire community.
5 out of 5, great movie, one of the bests i've seen in a long time.
Such a great movie. You will laugh, you will cry. Stephen Lang's performance is Oscar-winning for Best Supporting Actor. Karen Allen is fabulous. The story has twists and turns and keeps you interested all the way through. Loved the music in it, too.