The neighborhood I grew up in was exactly like the neighborhood depicted here: the police were ineffectual, and I saw the elderly and the poor victimized on a daily (and nightly) basis. Purse-snatchings were commonplace (I once chased a purse snatcher into a nearby housing project, but he lost me). One night, my brother and I saw an old man assaulted by a group of 15 youths. They were armed, and tackled him from behind. I grabbed a lead pipe and ran outside just as several of these punks ran past our house. By the time the police got there, the old man had regained consciousness, gotten up, and walked home. The cops brought him back so he could pick up his groceries, which had been scattered all over the street. Anyone who thinks- even for a moment- that this movie is in any way "over the top" or melodramatic simply has no clue... Martin Balsam gives one of his finest performances ever, and Dorian Harewood as the bottom feeder is brilliant. I'll never forget his response to Balsam's character when asked what he would've been, had things been different: "I would've been GREAT, man." It's a great line, delivered by an underrated performer in an underrated movie.
