Jimmy “Fingers” Angelelli plays classical music on a piano in his apartment. He is completely engrossed, and as he finishes playing, he notices Carol, a beautiful young woman watching through the window. He rushes out to meet her and they flirt, then kiss in her apartment, but Carol abruptly stops. Jimmy cannot understand why she has suddenly lost interest. Feeling confused, Jimmy later meets his father, Ben, at a restaurant, where Jimmy insists on blasting music from his ever-present cassette player. Ben gives Jimmy some debt collection jobs with two troublesome clients, Luchino and Riccamonza. As Ben explains the situation, Jimmy nervously looks at three gay men who are eyeing him; one is openly flirting from across the room. Ben talks about how Riccamonza’s men threatened him, but eventually changes the subject and asks Jimmy about his music. Jimmy informs his father that he has an audition at Carnegie Hall with Arthur Fox, his mother’s former colleague. Later, Jimmy goes to Luchino’s to collect the debt. After exchanging insults, Jimmy pistol-whips Luchino until he turns over the money. That evening, Jimmy practices for his audition, and the next day, meets his father at another restaurant and gives him the money. Jimmy continues to blast music and upsets a customer. A fight ensues until the manager pulls them apart. After the altercation, Ben berates Jimmy for fighting. Ben also thinks it’s crazy that Jimmy needs to play his music all the time but the young man insists it’s the only thing that keeps him sane. When Ben pushes his son to “take care” of Riccamonza, Jimmy tracks down the man at a country club. Jimmy makes verbal threats over the phone and demands that Riccamonza pay by tomorrow; however, Riccamonza does not take the situation seriously and hangs up. After Jimmy leaves, he approaches Julie, a girl who was with Riccamonza, then follows her into the bathroom and propositions her. After they make love, he asks Julie to inform Riccamonza about their activities. Later, Jimmy spies on Carol and follows her to a bar where she meets the owner, Dreems. Jimmy tries to enter, but the security guards keep him out. Jimmy returns home to rehearse for his audition. The next day, he meets up with two of Riccamonza’s men in the park. They warn him to back off and call over a police officer, claiming that Jimmy has been engaging in illegal public gambling. The officer arrests Jimmy, who worries that he will not get out of jail in time for his audition. However, Ben’s lawyer bails Jimmy out just in time, and he rushes to Carnegie Hall. Even though Arthur Fox offers a warm greeting, Jimmy freezes during his audition and Fox tells him to return when he is ready. Unwilling to stop, Jimmy insists he is prepared but repeatedly messes up the song and leaves humiliated. Later, he visits his mother, Ruth, in a mental institution. When he informs her that he failed his audition, she recoils, deeply ashamed. Upset, Jimmy goes to Carol’s apartment for sex. The next morning, Jimmy proclaims they have something special, but Carol tells him to leave. He follows her as she goes to Dreems’s bar, where he informs former boxer Dreems that he loves Carol, even though Dreems is her current boyfriend. Unfazed, Dreems invites Jimmy to come with him and Carol to meet a girl named Christa at a hotel. There, Dreems kisses Christa and pulls Carol closer to create a threesome as Jimmy looks on uncomfortably. Dreems insinuates that Jimmy is impotent. When Christa and Carol refuse to kiss each other, Dreems slams their heads together and warns Carol not to cross him again. Later that day, Jimmy cries alone in his apartment. Ben arrives, furious that his son has not collected from Riccamonza yet, and demands that Jimmy kill the man. Jimmy refuses, as he has never killed before, and Ben says that he should have strangled Jimmy in his crib. Later, Jimmy finds Carol and Dreems together and demands that Carol leave the bar owner, but Carol says nothing and Jimmy leaves, defeated. That evening, Jimmy gets a phone call from a man saying, “It’s over.” Jimmy rushes to his father’s house and finds Ben shot to death. Jimmy tracks Riccamonza down at his country club and drags him into a stairwell where a bloody fight ensues. Jimmy repeatedly shoots Riccamonza in the face. The next day, Jimmy sits naked and alone in his apartment, panting.