City of Industry (film)

Plot

Retired thief, Roy Egan (Harvey Keitel), comes out of retirement to help his youngest brother, Lee (Timothy Hutton), with a jewelry heist in Palm Springs. Along for the job are hired muscle, Jorge Montana (Wade Dominguez), and wheelman, Skip Kovich (Stephen Dorff), who is running late. While they wait for Skip, the three men prepare for the heist by surveying the jewelry store they're planning to rob. Elsewhere, Skip is doing business with gunrunner, Odell Williams (Michael Jai White), who offers Skip his services in case he needs anything. Once Skip finally arrives to the rendezvous spot, a trailer park, he joins the crew and the heist goes down, the next day. Thanks to Jorge's scrambling of the police monitors and traffic signals, their getaway is successful.

At Skip's motel room, his bimbo girlfriend, Gena (Dana Barron), sparks a notion in his head about how much money he would be receiving from the heist—which doesn't look appealing. At the trailer park, as Lee and Jorge are having some beers and expressing satisfaction with how the heist went down, Skip guns both of them down. Roy, who was in the bathroom, smacks the door on Skip, sees the dead bodies, and makes a run for it. Skip blasts his way out of the trailer, but loses Roy. Roy hides inside a drainage pipe and Skip takes off with the money. When the coast is clear, Roy steals a car and heads to Los Angeles, where he rents a room and tries to gather himself together. The next day, Roy attempts to find Skip, hurting a few people along the way, but coming empty-handed. Roy stops at Jorge's house to inform his wife, Rachel (Famke Janssen), about her husband's death and if she knows Skip's whereabouts, but she angrily she kicks him out. Skip soon gets word that Roy is after him, so he makes a call to Odell and employs him and his crew to protect him, as he attempts to deal with a loan shark, Harvey (Elliott Gould), to whom he is already deep in debt. Harvey is also connected with the Chinese mob, and has eyes and ears all around town. Skip convinces Harvey to use his connections to track down Roy, in exchange for more money on top of what he already owes him. Roy is found by the mob, beaten, tied, and thrown in the back seat of a car. As the kidnappers drive, Roy frees himself and kills his captors, causing the car to flip over.

Rachel finds a bruised and bloody Roy lying on her yard. She cleans him up and attempts to take him to a hospital, but Roy refuses and offers her $5,000 to take care of him. Once Roy recovers, Rachel refuses the money he offered her, wanting $100,000 instead. Roy refuses at first, but when she gives him Jorge's address book full of contacts – including Skip – he accepts. Rachel takes Roy to a laundering setup belonging to the mob, which is holding Skip's money. Roy attacks the operator in charge, Uncle Luke (François Chau), and takes Skip's money, but unknowingly loses his motel key. Uncle Luke informs Skip that Roy took his money and that he's on his own to get it back, but also tells him of the key Roy left behind. Roy prepares for his confrontation with Skip and tells Rachel to pack her belongings. As he leaves, Rachel gives him a Saint Christopher's medal for protection. Mobsters attempt to kill Roy in his motel cabin, but Roy takes them out by exploding a gas tank located outside the cabin.

Skip kidnaps Rachel and calls Roy, demanding the money from the heist back. He gives Roy a time and place to meet, a construction site. At the site, Skip finds that Odell had sent two of his guys after him for the money he owes them; they've also taken Gena hostage. Skip kills them both, as well as Gena. When Roy arrives, he gets into a gun battle with the mob, who are also after Skip. Roy takes them out, but is severely wounded. Skip tries to make off with the money, but Roy trips him, beats him to death with his bare hands, and rescues Rachel. Rachel speeds Roy to a hospital and rushes to find help. When she returns, both Roy and the car are gone, but he leaves her money in a duffel bag by the bushes. Rachel and her children bury Jorge and relocate to Port Arthur, Texas. One day, the postman delivers her a small package. She opens it and finds the religious medal she gave Roy, assuring her that he's alive.

Critical response

The film received mixed reviews, and holds a 38% film score at Rotten Tomatoes based on thirteen reviews.