Episodic portrait of a criminal, from 1934 until after the war. Roberto Borgo is tough, cool, sardonic, loyal, and deadly. He comes to Marseilles to help his friend Xavier Saratov get out of jail, first killing a local brothel and casino boss to take over the businesses, and, with the help of Xavier's sister, Georgia, amass money for Xavier's defense. Xavier loses in court, so Roberto gets himself thrown in prison to be with his friend. Escape proves futile, but they are pardoned in exchange for working as sappers. After the war, Xavier is a bitter cripple, but Roberto remains detached, extorting ownership of a casino, which puts his friends at risk. Does he care?

Through an improbable series of events and an impossibly bungled supermarket hold-up, down on their luck con men Matt and Wilbur find themselves working with the Miami police force. As they patrol the streets of the city, their main job becomes trying to break the hold of the city's street gangs, including one group of teens in old movie-gangster style clothes, led by a kid named Geronimo who dresses in full Indian warrior regalia.