Fifteen-year-old Howie loses just about everything and everyone in the space of a single week, but ends up finding himself in the process. His mother has just died. His father, a building contractor, can barely keep tabs on his young girlfriend, let alone his own son. Thusly, the teen must navigate his adolescence virtually unsupervised. Floating towards an ill-behaved existence, Howie and his crowd begin robbing houses in the middle-class neighborhoods off the Long Island Expressway. Together, he and his best friend Gary break into a place belonging to an old guy named Big John, a local man who is a respected pillar of the community. When Big John fingers Gary for the crime, Howie learns that his pal has been leading a secret, dangerous but also alluring double life. Subsequently, we also discover that Big John has secrets of his own.
Paul Dano | Howie Blitzer (as Paul Franklin Dano) |
Bruce Altman | Marty Blitzer |
Billy Kay | Gary |
James Costa | Kevin Cole |
Tony Michael Donnelly | Brian (as Tony Donnelly) |
Michelle Carano | Newscaster |
Tatiana Burgos | Marty's Girlfriend |
Brian Cox | Big John Harrigan |
B. Constance Barry | Anne Harrigan |
Walter Masterson | Scott |
Brad Silnutzer | Henry |
Bob Gerardi | Clifford |
Adam LeFevre | Elliot |
Frank Rivers | Man with Pizza (as Frank G. Rivers) |
Anthony F. Peragine | Tough Kid #1 |
Jude LoBasso | Tough Kid #2 |
Marcia DeBonis | Guidance Counselor |
Gladys Dano | Sylvia Blitzer |
Emilio Cuesta | Howie (5 Years Old) |
Christine Toy Johnson | FBI Woman |
Francis Leik | Police Officer (as Francis J. Leik) |
Chuck Ardezzone | Desk Sergeant |
Risa Ziegler | Female Cop |
Ray Garvey | Brian's Father |
Angela Pietropinto | Mrs. Cole |
Chance Kelly | Prison Guard |
Pierre Földes | Composer |
Romeo Tirone | Cinematographer |
Eric Carlson | Editor |
Kane Platt | Editor |
Luis G. Moreno | Prison Guard |