Period crime thriller. In 1930's Harlem, ex-con smoothy Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson, played by Fishburne, rules a local numbers racket so lucrative that ruthless Mafia boss Lucky Luciano (Andy Garcia) wants a piece of the action. Luciano sends his crazed capo, Dutch Shultz (Tim Roth) to Harlem to handle the situation. A bloody war breaks out in the streets and Johnson finds his turf and numbers operation under siege. Luciano calls for a mediated truce before the politicos and cops move in and chill out all the action.