Thief Harvey Keitel comes to Southern California to join his younger brother, Timothy Hutton, and a nice Latino (Wade Dominguez) and a driver (Stephen Dorff),to pull off a diamond heist at one of those high-end stores that line the main drag in Palm Springs. They are successful. As they are about to divvy up the loot, Dorff kills Hutton and Dominguez. He tries to kill Keitel too, but botches it, which is what you might call a bad mistake.

Dorff takes off with all the loot and the rest of the movie has Keitel tracking him down, at the cost of a lot of money and an infinity of pain. At the end, having dispatched Dorff, the wounded and bleeding Keitel sees to it that Dominguez' widow (Famke Janssen) gets most of the money from the job. Keitel disappears, perhaps dying, and Janssen retires with her two kids to Port Arthur, Texas. End of story.

A lot of this is familiar territory by now and has been done better elsewhere -- "Heat", for instance, or "Straight Time." But it's not badly done, despite the rather weak script. It's always interesting to see the underside of L.A. The Chinese sweat shops, the bars where the black guys hang out, everybody in shades, dilapidated single-family homes with their front yards littered with trash and children's toys, Lucy Liu doing a pole dance, San Pedro's cracking plants, dusty and mostly empty motels with propane gas tanks ready to explode at the hint of a stray bullet, careering cars knocking down utility poles and emitting showers of fake sparks, sleazy flowered shirts that scream out "Dollar Store", hotels with dark apartments where you wouldn't want to live unless you like junkies for neighbors.

The director handles his background people with effortless aplomb. After he shoots two of his accomplices, Dorff chases Keitel through a louche trailer park, firing wildly. When he loses his quarry, Dorff looks angrily around. When the bullets started flying, the rednecks and their dogs scramble over fences to get out of the way, only to appear at their doorways seconds later. One fat guy in a cowboy hat cocks his shotgun, and another has a pistol at his side. It's amusing. You feel that these guys have been around such situations before. But the director has kept them in long shot and doesn't make a big to-do out of the point. Nice touch.

In another scene, Keitel is beating the crap out of the bartender in an empty saloon. Two Latinos walk through the door, take a quick look at what's going on, and back out again.

If there's not much new in the revenge plot, the details of life in this particular social world are pretty nicely captured. Well, I must say that the villain of the piece, Dorff, is thoroughly stereotyped. There's nothing "good" about him. He's a young, cocky, ruthless showoff. He plays raunchy music loud in his convertible. He shoots through his own girlfriend's chest in order to plug the guy holding her from behind, and shows not a wit of remorse. The director allows Dorff to commit a fundamental error. As in "Platoon," every time the F word is used, it is shouted emphatically. "And bring the EFFING money!" That's not how the F word is used. If anything is stressed in an utterance, it's the noun, not the adjective. Bonus point: Harvey Keitel has an opportunity to howl with anger and smash some furniture.

Not a memorable movie, but one worth watching for diversion.

This is a studio character with tones of suspense about some two-fisted criminals in L.A city . An old thief named Roy Egan (Harvey Keitel) , is drawn into the final jewel heist to Russian Mafia when his youngest brother named Lee (Timothy Hutton) asks him for a last score before they get out of the game . Lee forms a motley group (Keitel , Wade Dominguez and Stephen Dorff) to carry out the violent robbing . Unfortunately for him , Lee's picked one wrong partner and the events get worse . One of them decides he doesn't want to share the goods and betrays the group and happens murders and wreak havoc .The retired thief swears revenge on the lunatic who murdered his partners, while going on the run with the loot they stole.

This modern adaptation of noir cinema contains thrills , intrigue, explosive scenes of action and over-riding feeling of heat . Interesting premise in which takes places a moving cat-and-mouse hunt through the seedier sides of L.A . Exciting and stirring finale full of shootouts , violence and fights into a factory . Good performances from all-star cast as Harvey Keitel as an old pro robber who has vowed to avenge his brother , Stephen Dorff as a volatile , violent wheelman and Famke Janssen as a suffering wife . Nice musical score including an emotive song at the beginning . Colorful cinematography by Thomas Burstyn who permeates the whole movie even in the hours of night and darkness .

The motion picture is professionally directed by John Irvin with a well-achieved realization and elaborate scenes , though doesn't always live up to its promise . He worked extensively in TV before making his film debut with ¨The dogs of war¨ a cool rendition of a best-seller by Frederick Forsyth dealing with mercenaries in Africa. He went on directing ¨Ghost story¨ starred by old Hollywood-all-star and ¨Champions¨ about a courageous recovery from cancer stricken a steeple-chase jockey . After that , he realized a fine Vietnam movie as ¨The Hamburger Hill¨, ¨Turtle diary¨, an Arnold Szwenegger vehicle as ¨Raw Deal¨ and a good and realistic TV ¨Robin Hood¨. Finally , he made underrated films that not had the same inspiration since them as ¨Next of kin¨ , ¨Eminent domain¨ , ¨Freefall¨ and a sparkling comedy ,¨Widows peak¨ and is also of note a wartime genre as ¨When trumpets fade¨(1998). And of course , ¨City of Industry¨ , being one of the jewels in Irvin's crown , it results to be one of this most interesting works and an efficient contemporary Noir which had moderated success .

I like this film very much, a film which basic scheme reminds me a Richard Stark's novel: four professional robbers pull a job and just after, one of them kill his sidekicks and misses the one he should not have, before getting away with the goods...Then the track begins. Yes, I think about Parker in the Harvey Keitel's character. One dark, gritty and brutal fast paced American film noir. The only thing that bothers me, and that could have been easily avoided, is the heist scene, in the jewelry store. Three professional gangsters enter the store with no gloves and no hoods on their faces, as if they only had to get into a shopping mall to buy some presents for their wives. It is totally crazy !!!! I don't understand how the producers, screenwriters and director could have done that. If I had my self been a technician, or actor on the set, I would have asked, argued, opened my big mouth. I swear !!!! And no one seems to have noticed this huge goof !!!!!