This starkly realistic film, laced with humor and action, focuses on two young brothers, both of whom have grown up on the mean streets of the South Bronx, but with decidedly different outlooks. Joey dreams of finishing college and moving away from the violence and despair of his surroundings. His older brother, Junior, is a young man with no dreams left. The once close brothers find themselves torn apart in a confrontation that could change their lives forever.