Oh, dear. Eddie Murphy's directing debut and star vehicle hits engine trouble early on and conks out completely long before the home straight. The plan was to make a latter-day version of a 1930s gangster movie; the result has some nifty costumes, luscious sets and neat music, but, on almost every other count, it's a mess. As if Murphy's involvement wasn't already substantial enough, he also wrote the script and was executive producer. The result offers a simple message for the star: stick to acting.

'Sugar' Ray is the owner of an illegal casino and must contend with the pressure of vicious gangsters and corrupt police who want to see him go out of business. In the world of organised crime and police corruption in the 1920s, any dastardly trick is fair.