State of Grace
Terry Noonan (Penn) returns to Hell's Kitchen in New York City after a 10-year absence, where his unpredictable childhood friend Jackie Flannery (Oldman) is involved in an Irish crime organization (based on The Westies) run by his older brother Frank/Frankie (Harris). Terry also rekindles an old relationship with Jackie's sister Kathleen (Wright).
Terry is actually working as an undercover cop, and confesses it to Kathleen, who is reluctant to have anything to do with him after being told by her brother Frank that he is now a member of his gang for killing two people, although he explains it was staged with his undercover boss Nick (Turturro), firing only blanks.
Jackie is drinking in a bar one night when three members of a rival Italian gang enter. He snaps, and ends up killing all three for intruding on his gang's territory; he also suspects their involvement in the killing of his friend, Stevie (Reilly). Soon Frank is summoned to a meeting by the Italian Mafia boss Borelli and is instructed to kill his brother Jackie, who has become a "thorn" in "our side". Frank has told Jackie to lie in wait in case the meeting goes wrong and becomes a hit, and only manages to avert a war by hugging the Italian leader outside the restaurant in full view of his gang, causing them to retreat.
Frank arranges for Jackie to collect $25,000 after lying to him that the Italians are actually supporting them and that this is their reward, telling him to go to Battery Park. Terry tags along as Jackie's secret backup, finding that the location has been changed to Pier 84. As they wait at Pier 84, Frank arrives with his top enforcer Pat Nicholson (Call) just as Terry has stepped away to frantically phone his handlers to inform them that they have been sent to the wrong location. Frank fatally shoots and kills Jackie in cold blood. The police finally arrive and Terry tells Nick that he is quitting as an undercover operative.
At Jackie's funeral, Terry reveals to Frank that he was at Pier 84, and also hands him his police badge. Hours later, while Kathleen is watching the St. Patrick's Day parade alone, Terry goes to the bar where Frank and his gang are waiting. In a deadly shootout, Frank and all of his men are killed. Having been shot three times, Terry slumps to the floor before the film fades to black.
violence, neo noir, murder