Made Men

Made Men is a 1998 crime epic film.

## Plot

During the late 1950s, Nicky Paluzzo and Frank Rossi are two associates for the Paluzzo crime family of New York. Paluzzo, despite his name, is simply a distant nephew of family head Dominic, while Frank is half-Irish and could never receive a promotion. The two youths are employed as pickpockets and deliverymen for local boss Benny Recci, a sadistic brute. In 1959, Benny orders the two to take over deliveries to Harlem, as the rest of the family fears racial tensions there could explode at any time. Nicky and Frank deliver the goods to the head of the "darktown", Sammy Jr, and his enforcer, Lucky Lou. Benny begins meeting with corrupt ADF Sergeant Willy Graham, who discretely begins selling cocaine and other hard drugs to Benny, remaining mute about his dealer. During the next delivery, Benny accompanies the pair to make sure the cocaine is handed over smoothly; Benny's openly racist remarks angers Lucky Lou.

Benny attends the next delivery as well, intent on getting high with it with Sammy Jr. Nicky and Frank play cards when windows are smashed, fires are started, and Harlem is enraptured in the 1959 Race Riots. When a crowd ransacks the bar, Lucky Lou begins shooting at the deliverymen, killing Benny while Nicky and Frank flee. They find refuge in a church, where they are sheltered by Reverend Martin. The three introspect on life; Nicky is an angry man that wants revenge on those wronged him, revealing that his father once held an important position within the Paluzzo crime family, only to be betrayed by his cousins and murdered, leaving Nicky an orphan and little power. On the other hand, Frank is a happy-go-lucky guy that just wants a fortune so he can do whatever he wants. When the army finally arrives and establishes peace, Nicky and Frank flee Harlem.

Benny's boss, his aging father and caporegime Carlo Recci, wants vengeance for the death of his son; to avoid any turf wars, Sammy Jr. agrees to sacrifice Lucky Lou. Sammy drives Lou to the docks, where he is beaten and killed by Nicky and Frank, who throw his body into the river. Sammy explains how Carlo doesn't have the vision Benny had, namely he doesn't want to get involved with the drug trade. Frank agrees to continue the deliveries, much to Nicky's reluctance, who also doesn't want to get involved. On their way back, Frank and Nicky notice Reverend Martin's church has been firebombed by National Revolutionary Party members who believed the Reverend to be a traitor for sheltering whites.

The film cuts ahead to 1963. Nicky and Frank have taken over Benny's former mechanic shop, where, unbeknownst to Carlo, they handle their drug operations, primarily to Harlem still. Their side venture has netted them a life of luxury, which Frank enjoys much more than Nicky. Frank commonly goes on coke binges and brings prostitutes home, while Nicky handles the money. Nicky's focus and skill have brought him into Carlo's good graces, and he becomes the caporegime's main money man. After fixing a boxing match, Nicky befriends Fridrich "Fred" Kaminski, a Polish boxer that threw the match for Nicky and Carlo. Kaminski represents the waves of immigrants coming into New York, slowly pushing out the traditional Irish and Italian families. Kaminski becomes an enforcer for the local outfit.

For his work, Carlo invites Nicky to a high-profile dinner in the lavish mansion of Dominic Paluzzo on Long Island. There, he meets Celso Paluzzo, the man behind the death of Nicky's father. Since Celso is a made man and is "untouchable", Nicky instead plans to destroy his base of power leaving him weak enough to be taken down. Nicky also meets Marie, Carlo's niece.