For failing to fix his New York City tenement, slumlord Louie Kritski (Joe Pesci) is sentenced to live in one of his units. If repairs aren't completed in 120 days, he'll go to jail. As Louie confronts the decrepit conditions in which his tenants live -- from giant rats to nights without heat -- he begins to have a change of heart. But avoiding jail time will mean convincing his money-grubbing father, the building's true owner, to invest money for repairs.