Synopsis
In New York City, Canal Street divides Little Italy and Chinatown, and a bridge separates Manhattan from Brooklyn. But this doesn’t stop a turf war from erupting among Italian and Chinese organized crime syndicates. There’s Al Capella, Manhattan mob boss, Amador Condimento, Brooklyn mob boss, and Hung Phat, Chinatown Triad boss.
They’re all involved in the illegal condiments trade in New York. The illegal trafficking of oils, spices, and herbs has been around for centuries, begun by the great Italian explorer Marco Polo—and its very serious business for these crime families. Recently, they’ve been trying to move in on each other’s turf and tensions are high. And when a Chinese guy starts poking around and tries to join the MOB, the double-crossing begins.
Vincent “Vinny” Chow, the mid-twenties Asian protagonist with left arm in a sling, races to Washington Square to seek out two old Chinese fortunetellers, Knowledge and Wisdom, who have an annoying habit of bickering raunchily with each other instead of listening to their clients. Vinny tells them he needs advice desperately and begins his story. A series of flashbacks begins. Vinny, at 14 years old, trains under Master Eng in kung-fu and fails miserably. Vinny feels like a failure and like he doesn’t fit in his own culture. Instead, young Vinny wants respect, charisma, power, la dolce vita – in other words, he wants to be “Made,” to become an Italian Wiseguy like the heroes in all his favorite movies.
Mr. Chow, Vinny’s father, doesn’t really understand this and encourages traditional Chinese ways. He especially swears by traditional Chinese medicine, which he claims is excellent for his “jade stalk.” If their large family is any indication, it works! Vinny’s passion, however, cannot be repressed. He watches movie after movie and imitates all the famous mobsters, from Don Corleone to Donny Brasco. Mrs. Chow, Vinny’s mother, is somewhat more tolerant but doesn’t understand, either. May Wong, Vinny’s neighbor and longtime friend, is clearly smitten with Vinny, but he hardly notices. Mr. and Mrs. Wong, May’s parents, are also friends of the family, but are more well-off and Western in their lifestyle. They prefer to follow the enlightenment teachings of the Jewish Guru Schwartz over Lao Tzu. Everyone is looking outside their culture!
One day while out with his Italian friend, Joey Risotto, Vinny has a brush with Vito and Luigi, two of Condimento’s Brooklyn mobsters, who are out of their territory in Manhattan. Vinny challenges them for cutting in line, but they warn him to back off. Instead of being frightened, Vinny is thrilled. Suddenly, Vinny spots Tina (the Italian girl of his dreams) walking down the street. She’s beautiful and sexy and always hangs around Italian tough guys. Vinny gets up the nerve to ask her out, but she insults him—she wants someone with prospects, someone with a car, someone with connections… Vinny has none of these. Rocco p