Synopsis

The numbers game was a major racket in 1930's Harlem, and African American crime boss Ellsworth "Bumpy" Johnson was its undisputed king until psychotic white mobster Dutch Schultz (Tim Roth) decided he wanted the lucrative district's gambling business for himself and was willing to get it by force. Schultz's nominal boss Lucky Luciano (Andy Garcia) also wants a piece of the action, but he would rather negotiate as would the soft-spoken Johnson who is as much a gentleman as he is a vicious gangster. Johnson (Laurence Fishburne) was at one time an idealist who, after his parole in 1934, returned to his native Harlem to work as a thug for Stephanie "Queen" St. Clair (Cicely Tyson). He is a hard case, and with ruthless efficiency he soon becomes her right-hand man. When she is eventually caught and sentenced to prison, she makes Bumpy promise to stay away from violence. He tries, but the sordid nature of his business makes it impossible. Though outwardly a cold-blooded sort, community social worker Francine Huges (Vanessa Williams) sees some good in him and so becomes emotionally involved in hopes of convincing him to leave criminal life. But despite her good intentions, the lure of power and easy money coupled with a bloody war with Schultz are too much for Bumpy and only serves to make him even worse. This crime drama features considerable violence.

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