Written and directed by Robert Moresco, it is said to have been inspired by the true events told by FBI agent Joseph D. Pistone, more familiarly known as “Donnie Brasco.” James Marsden plays Tommy, who has a gangland background and when he returns to the old city neighborhood and his former pals, is browbeaten by the FBI into wearing a wire to entrap criminals dealing in drugs.

The film is riddled with family angst, with Lesley Ann Warren as Tommy’s aunt wasted in a terrible role. In fact, everybody is wasted dramatically while not getting wasted physically. This is bottom-of-the-barrel mob stuff, with the violence as run-of-the-mill as the rest. There is some effort at meaning with references to the failure of the mid-east fighting to achieve any goal, an excuse for disillusionment. But that seems tossed in as a futile attempt give weight to a film that has none.