Who Were The Guys Chasing Noodles?

Rating: Null/10 (8 May 2004)

At the beginning of the film, who were the guys that shot Noodles Girl and were beating up Moe? They kept mentioning they wanted to get Noodles because he ratted out his friends, but still, I can't figure out who these guys were. Anybody have an idea?
I considered at the end of the film that maybe the entire thing was a hallucination, but I can't say I'd put all of my eggs in that basket.
Also, I've heard people rave about the score of the film. I wasn't totally impressed. It reminded me of music from the Karate Kid. Also, it seemed as though the theme music was placed inappropriately at certain moments. For example when the one kid was waiting in the hall with the Charlotte Russe for Peg. The theme music came on while he was eating it, it wasn't placed well there at all.
This was a great movie, no question. I've never seen a film this long and the time just flew by. The music may be overrated, that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.