Don't get me wrong, the acting is fantastic, but the message behind it is very depressing, they have incredible character development, but the storyline made being a police officer seem to be a hopeless and dreary pursuit. The sex scenes are nothing short of soft-core pornography, watching them with my parents was ridiculously awkward, definitely nothing that should be seen by younger teens. Constant reference to sex throughout, including drugged rape, and bondage. A main character makes repeated visit's to a prostitute, and leaves nothing to the imagination. The prostitute is glimpsed "cleansing" herself of the bodily fluids from a previous customer, and it goes on and on. Several main characters wander into a strip club, full frontal nudity is seen, etc... As for violence, this one doesn't pull any punches. This is a gritty, dark, and incredibly realistic portrayal of Brooklyn. Several graphic shootings, blood spurting from wounds, torture, rape, and several severe beatings are also seen. Language is pretty bad, many uses of the F-word although the lack of emphasis makes it go largely unnoticed. Drugs have a constant presence in this one, several main characters deal cocaine, one seems to be an alcoholic, and several references to Marajuana are also present. Overall, it was well done. A remarkably talented cast, and nothing short of a directors masterpiece. But I would not recommend it for anyone under the age of 17.