WHARF RAT, THE

On the raw, wind-raked waterfront, where eight-story cranes hoist giant sea containers and fork-lift operators move mysterious cargoes, this suspenseful drama focuses on two brothers worlds apart.

“Some guys go to college, some to prison,” says Petey Martin (Lou Diamond Phillips). Petey went to prison and his older brother Matt (Scott Cohen) went to college. In a cameo appearance, Rita Moreno plays the boys’ mother.

By the time of Petey’s release, Matt has become a policeman. Petey takes up the life of a “wharf rat,” working on the shady side of the law, trafficking in the “lost” goods that fall through the cracks in the commerce of the piers. It’s a dangerous world, but he moves in it with ease.

Petey’s brother Matt is assigned a new partner Doc (Judge Reinhold) and a new beat — Petey’s waterfront turf. When Matt refuses to join Doc and his on-the-take buddies, he’s set up by his crooked partner and killed in a drug bust.

Ambitious reporter Dexter Ireland (Rachel Tocotin) has a mission to expose corrupt cops, and becomes a target herself when she witnesses Matt’s murder. She teams with Petey, who has vowed to avenge his brother’s death. Together, they pull off a series of risky baiting manoeuvres to lure Doc to a final heart-stopping showdown.