The film contains numerous powerful scenes that unfortunately are intermingled with moments where Lee tries to prove that he's an artiste. The movie's most disturbing and jarring scene actually unfolds in the opening credits where Lee shows graphic photographs of dead black youths with large bullet holes in their bodies.
Strike works in a Brooklyn project as a clocker, a slang term for the lowest level of drug dealer.
The name derives from the fact that a clocker works around the clock. The money's good but the hours aren't, and the threat of arrest is constant. And if you step out of line, it'll probably be the last step you take. Strike wants to move up in the drug biz, since life as a clocker has him so stressed he's developed an ulcer. Klein and Mazilli suffer from a severe case of apathy complicated by racism and disillusionment, but Klein decides to press hard on this case, basically because he believes an innocent, hardworking family man is taking the rap for a drug dealer.