The film is a story about Dennis (played by Larry Gilliard Jr.), an African-American teen living in a housing project with his sister, mother and abusive, alcoholic father.

Fed up with his family's seemingly hopeless future, he plans with his friends to rob a drug dealer.

Dennis, living in a Red Hook housing project in Brooklyn, New York has had enough of poverty, and witnessing his alcoholic father beat his mother.

As they drive up to him, Dennis points the gun in his face and tells him to hand over the bag, yet he doesn't actually shoot him as his friends were discussing in the car.

When Dennis and his friends take the briefcase back home and realise that it contains much more than they expected, the other two get scared and realize they will be targeted for stealing the bag in the first place.

The same night, Dennis brings the money home to show his family and tells them they can move out of the projects, but his father is less than happy about what his son has done.

It began as a short story and 8-minute clip, which (he explains in the outtakes for the film) he made for himself and for high school kids.

Roger Ebert called Straight Out of Brooklyn "a strong, good film": "It all adds up to a convincing portrait of a big city black teen-ager who feels that if he does not take some sort of conclusive action, life will clamp him into poverty and discouragement.