Leon (Stephen Dorff) is the leader of the Deuces, a Sunset Park street gang. It is 1958 and the times are a changin’ in Brooklyn. Like a lot of Brooklynites, Leon and his crew are mourning the loss of the Dodgers, who are in the midst of playing their maiden season in sunny L.A. To make matters worse, the quality of life in Leon’s burg is declining thanks in large part to the Deuces’ neighborhood rival gang, the Vipers. Their cold-blooded stoic leader, Marco (Norman Reedus), is dealing heroin on Sackett Street and has the backing of the local mob don, Fritzy (a wisely uncredited Matt Dillon). Marco has just been released from prison for narcotics distribution and blames Leon for sending him up to the big house. Not surprisingly, Marco vows revenge.

And as if he didn’t already have enough to worry about, Leon’s younger brother Bobby (Brad Renfro) is enamored with the tough-talking Annie, who just happens to be the sister of Vipers’ member Jimmy Pockets (Balthazar Getty). Perhaps MGM hopes that no one remembers “Romeo And Juliet”?

Lack of originality, however, is the least of the movie’s problems. Given MGM’s well-publicized financial straits, it’s safe to assume that the C-list cast were brought on inexpensively by Tinseltown standards. Dorff is the poor man’s Kiefer Sutherland who, himself, is the poor man’s Brad Pitt; Brad Renfro just mumbles and acts moody; the supremely untalented Fairuza Balk has the most annoying accent since Fran Drescher in television’s “The Nanny.”

What’s worse, the scenery is even more low-budget than the actors’ salaries. Though the movie is supposed to take place in Brooklyn, it’s abundantly clear that most of the filming occurred on a Hollywood backlot. If you’re going to do a period piece on a Kings County neighborhood, then it’s not asking too much to see a bus, a subway train, or a landmark such as a high school.

The little dialog that’s included is laughable, at best; and the obligatory gang fight scenes look like outtakes from Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” video.

“Deuces Wild” could have been one of those films that’s made great by its badness, but it does not even merit that status. If you want to watch a great film about New York gangs, get a hold of a copy of 1979's “The Wanderers.” Skip this one at all costs.