Butch "Bullet" Stein (Mickey Rourke) is a 35-year-old Jewish ex-convict and junkie, who is released from prison on parole after serving an 8-year sentence for being an accomplice to a robbery, perpetrated by his friend, Irish-American gangster Paddy. After his release, Bullet and his best friend Lester (John Enos III) rob two teenagers for drugs. He also robs and stabs in the eye drug runner Flaco (Manny Perez), telling him to let his boss Tank (Tupac Shakur) know Bullet is back. He returns to Brooklyn to live with his dysfunctional family, including his alcoholic father, depressed mother and his two brothers, the older mentally unstable Vietnam veteran Louis, and his younger brother Ruby, an aspiring graffiti artist.