An ambulance chasing lawyer decides to become a boxing promoter in NYC. However he comes into conflict with money lenders and the local mob. He finds that his talk and promises are meaningless unless he can back them up and he digs himself into deeper trouble with every word.
This is a very low key NY drama in De Niro's career - more typical of the bottom feeders he played in the 70's than the powerful mob figures he has played more recently. This has a depressing feel of inevitability about it - you can see the problems in Fabian's plans long before they happen, giving the film a feel of small time from the very start. This isn't a story about small time making it big, rather a story of a hustler who talks himself into a corner. The story is therefore quite compelling, despite it being very low key, the only weakness being the romance subplot and the fact that it is quite depressing.
De Niro is good as Fabian, his best scenes are when he's talking, trying to create something that isn't. However his character isn't totally believable and when it all comes falling down it isn't that well done. Jessica Lange is good but doesn't have that much to do and again her character isn't convincing when the bad times come. Support is good from the likes of Eli Wallach, Jack Warner, Alan King and others.
Overall this is a good film with an overall air of realism. Not one of De Niro's best and indeed it has it's weaknesses but it's quite good.
