Manhattan lawyer Harry Fabian (whose clients are mostly lowlifes and prostitutes) sues a professional boxer on behalf of a schnook who got popped and is now in a neck-brace; that case gets thrown out of court, but no matter: Fabian is bitten by the boxing bug, and rallies all his contacts to raise enough cash to promote his own boxing event--much to the dismay of "Boom Boom" Grossman, the promotional kingpin of New York City . Based on Gerald Kersh's novel and the 1950 movie-version directed by Jules Dassin (to whom this remake is dedicated), "Night and the City" gives us yet another colorful character portrait from actor Robert De Niro. Chatting away like a man possessed, De Niro is playing not just a dreamer but a DESPERATE, determined dreamer. Harry is too naïve to understand that some people never get their shot, never get their piece of the American dream. He wants to be successful, he wants his friends to celebrate with him, and he wants to have fun climbing up the ladder. His semi-reluctant partner, a faded boxing legend (Jack Warden, in a smashing performance) happens to be "Boom Boom"'s brother, while Jessica Lange is the abused wife of Harry's main financier. She's also having an affair with Harry, in a subplot that never quite irons itself out. Several issues, in fact, are left unresolved, and the picture is assembled rather sloppily. Still, De Niro's live-wire performance is something to see; he claws and begs and punches right through this too-glossy milieu, actually making something substantial out of it. Harry Fabian finds himself backed into a corner, and his final plea is marvelously well-played. It's an acting workout for De Niro in a picture that just misses the bull's-eye. **1/2 from ****