spoiler alert it when nightclub owner cosmo vitellus and ben gazzara and finally pay off his debt to the local loan shark marty and al ruban and be when his trouble really begin . go out to celebrate his new find freedom with his top stripper include his girlfriend rachel and azizi johari and at this mob run casino ship ahoy cosmo lose $ 23 and 000 . 00 mostly in credit that the casino owner john and moran woodward and advance to him . now back behind the eight ball with his nightclub the crazy horse west in danger of be take away from him cosmao be force to do a hit job for john and co. what john want cosmao to do be knock off this obscure chinese bookie and soto joe hugh and or good know a the chinaman in order to square thing with him . what cosmo doesn not know be that he be set up to be kill by the chinaman who isn not a small time l. a hoodlum but the top crime bos on the west coast . without know all the fact cosmo even if he succeed in knock off the chinaman and living to tell about will then be target by the man and john and who contract him to do it . a live cosmo vitellus be far more dangerous to john and co. then a dead one . in that he know and and can expose and who behind the chinaman murder . which will have the entire chinaman mob breathe down on john and co. neck . spoilersvery off beat crime drama with cosmo on the run for his life from both the john and chinaman and whom he knock off with two of his bodyguard and mob . the movie end on a down note in that cosmo after get away from both john and the chinaman mobster be leave and from what i can see and bleed to death outside his nightclub that he take refuge in . this after his girlfriend rachael leave cosmo knowing that she will end up dead if she stay . a for cosmo he at least have the last laugh in have those who be out to murder and as well a silence and him fail miserably . even if he do not live long enough to see it . director john cassavettes most personal work that have his most deep fear realize and put on the screen . feeling that his dream of make movie be be steal from right under him and by the mogul in hollywood and cassavettes use the metaphor of a nightclub owner and cosmo vitellus and to explain on film the demon that haunt him all his adult life . actor and good friend ben gazzara at first turn down cassavettes in take the part of the doomed cosmo vitellus but when he be tell by cassavettes that it in fact be really about himself he do it a a favor to him . cassavettes never be able to overcome the fear that the movie the killing of a chinese bookie bring out about his personal life . unable to control his destructive alcoholism cassavettes direct career continue to go downhill together with his health dying of a massive heart attack in 1989 at the age of 59 .