- An ex professor offers Adam $1,000,000 to "get" some plasma from a high tech company's lab. Adam asks his criminal grandpa for help. Can they convince Adam's now honest dad to join?
- Jessie is an aging career criminal who has been in more jails, fights, schemes, and line-ups than just about anyone else. His son Vito, while currently on the straight and narrow, has had a fairly shady past, and is indeed no stranger to illegal activity. They both have great hope for Adam, Vito's son and Jessie's grandson, who is bright, good-looking, and without a criminal past. So when Adam approaches Jessie with a scheme for a burglary he's shocked, but not necessarily uninterested.—Murray Chapman <muzzle@cs.uq.oz.au>
- Jessie McMullen (Sean Connery) is a Scotch-Irish American widower who emigrated with his Sicilian wife to New York in September 1946. A lovable rogue, incorrigible womanizer and tough guy, Jessie is proud of his criminal past and lifestyle. He raised his son Vito (Dustin Hoffman) to follow in his footsteps, but Vito went straight at 21 when Adam his son was born. Vito now runs a thriving wholesale Twelfth Avenue meat packing warehouse and has left his criminal past behind him.
Vito became ashamed of his family's criminal past. He went into a legitimate business, married his middle-class Hebrew sweetheart and has tried to raise his son Adam right, which in his mind means keeping young Adam (Matthew Broderick) away from his criminally minded yet charming grandfather. Little does Vito know that this strategy has backfired, the mystery surrounding Jessie, coupled with his strict educational upbringing has caused Adam to idolize his grandfather and romanticize his exciting lifestyle.
Now that Adam is grown up (22 years old), he is in college with a scientific scholarship and seemingly has a bright future ahead of him. However, six months before graduating he drops out complaining he was already "being put on a pension plan and they had my whole future mapped out". So when he unveils a scheme for a burglary in order to impress his grandfather Jessie, Vito is shocked and disappointed. He warns his son not to pursue this crime and even slaps his face in a bar to drive home the point. This pushes Adam even closer to his grandfather, who can't wait to take a shot at a million-dollar payday, and is eager to re-enlist his reformed son Vito, into the scheme which he calls "the sweetest deal of my life".
Vito is distressed but Jessie is determined to rope him in. The more he hears about the scheme, the more tempted Vito is to give up the safe middle class lifestyle he has carved out for himself and have a return to the wild days of his youth under Jessie. So, the three generations of McMullens embark on one great criminal adventure with Vito begrudgingly saying yes on the principle he is there to watch out for Adam along the way.
The plan to steal valuable scientific research from a lab, backfires horribly when having seemingly pulled off the heist successfully, they realize Adam has forgotten the logbook which is a vital prerequisite, if they are to be paid the reward by its suitors. Adam dashes back into the building to retrieve the important document, in his rush he accidentally sets off an alarm on his way out. Vito and Jessie can only watch helplessly from afar as Adam is captured by the police. But before he is captured, he manages to throw the logbook towards the other two. Vito is heartbroken and tearful, but Jessie holds their composure and the two safely escape the scene with the stolen research and logbook.
Vito and Jessie hire an expensive Schyster lawyer for Adam's defense but are told the only way for Adam to avoid a 15-year sentence is to give up his two mystery accomplishes. Upon discovering Adam is in trouble Vito's wife instructs him to give himself up and Jessie in order to get Adam a reduced sentence.
Discovering that the vials contained nothing but water and that the scientific research they stole had been faked, Jessie tracks down Adam's former professor Jimmy Chui who had double crossed Adam by selling him the robbery idea and makes him pay. In the meanwhile, a crestfallen Vito gives in to his wife suggestion he give himself and his father up, and rats Jessie out, as well as giving himself up. A judge finds all three McMullens to be at fault, but after generously placing both Vito and his son on probation, he throws the book at Jessie, giving him a 15 year sentence tantamount to a life sentence.
Adam visits his grandfather devotedly in jail while banning Vito from his life. Vito's explanations that he did what he did, he did for Adam's own good, fall on deaf ears as Adam calls him a "piece of garbage" and lambastes him for "ratting out his own father". Jessie dies in prison, as Vito arrives minutes too late to say a last goodbye as the body is being carted away as Vito makes a last dash in vain to intercept the body on its way to the morgue. He falls just short as the prison gates shut behind him and he breaks down in tears as melodramatic music plays in the background.
Vito and Adam eventually make their peace months later. Vito agrees with Adam that the most fun they have had as a family was the caper. Together they give Jessie a grand sendoff.
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