It's basically a murder mystery of the what-really-happened variety.

The script cunningly turns our conceptions of its characters upside down at the end, although it isn't really clear how some of them get away with their crimes.

Arguably, Lee has too much peripheral non-action going on here, spinning the film out beyond the hour mark before it gets down to the meat.

Still, street-level performances from a strong cast, led by Harvey Keitel and John Turturro as cops investigating a Brooklyn murder, certainly give the in-your-face quality the director requires.

As with a lot of Lee's work, the core of the movie is solid yet he veers off on tangents that somwewhat undermine his original message.