Everybody's out to get Johnny Porno
It's the New York City in the 1970's and John Albano is trying to get by. But they've taken his union card and work is hard to come by. He's hired to pick up the cash at showings of the recently banned Deep Throat, which is how he meets Eddie Vento, the local mobster in charge of distribution, who wants him to go to work for him. And Nick Santorra, Vento's loud-mouthed driver, who just loves to ride Albano every chance he gets, and knows how to hold a grudge.
And then there's his ex-wife Nancy, now re-married for the third time, still demanding her child support. Nancy is also still seeing her first husband, Louis, a hustler who looks a lot like Duane Allman. But Louis has got a new girlfriend, Holly, and this drives Nancy crazy, which she naturally takes out on Albano.
Albano even has a problem he doesn't know about, a drugged out ex-cop named Billy Hastings. Convinced that John is trying to put the make on his wife at a bar one evening, Hastings takes a swing at Albano but John drops him. Hastings is caught on tape starting the fight and he's forced into retirement, but he knows who's to blame for everything--and Albano is going to pay.
At the same time, they're all being watched by detectives Neil Levin and Steven Brice from Internal Affairs, who may or may not be on the same side. And Special Agent Darrel Stebenow, who is watching out for Brigit Malone, Vento's undercover girlfriend. And Lt. Det. Sean Kelly, who is watching out for himself.
At the center of it all is Johnny Porno--god, how he hates that name --a guy who's just trying to stay ahead of the hustle and make a living. Just trying to stay alive.