Screenwriter Richard Price named the film's lead police officer after a real detective from Jersey City, Detective Calvin Hart. Previously, the same detective inspired Price's character Andre in the giant novel Clockers which was also made into as feature film. In Barbet Schroeder's gritty thriller, actor David Caruso is an ex-con who's lured back into a life of crime for one last heist. When a detective (Samuel L. Jackson) offers him his freedom in return for turning in a gangster (Nicolas Cage), he becomes a reluctant pawn caught between federal agents and the mob. Helen Hunt, Stanley Tucci and Michael Rappaport co-star in this stylish, street-smart film.