Tramps

In TRAMPS, twenty-something Danny (Callum Turner) is the younger brother of Darren, a small-time Queens, New York, criminal. He lives with his Polish mom, who runs a gambling parlor at home. When Darren calls from jail, he orders Danny to take his place in a quick-money scheme scheduled that day. Danny says no but is pressed by his mother to stand in. TRAMPS follows the seeming disaster that results when the inexperienced and under-informed Danny messes up his small role in the drop-and-switch deal. His driver is a world-weary 20-year-old named Ellie (Grace Van Patten), on the run from a past life in Pittsburgh, and eager for the $1,500 she thinks will help her start anew. Danny panics but settles down when Ellie, seemingly far more comfortable with impending fiasco, takes the lead on a recovery plan that gets their bosses off their backs. Until the mission is accomplished, the threat of violent retribution by Jimmy (Louis Cancelmi), the caper's mobsterish "mastermind," hovers and spurs them on. Nevertheless, in the meantime, a friendship blooms. Danny is awkward and smitten and Ellie, a former waitress in a strip club, is wary of male attention, suggesting it hasn't worked out well for her in the past. Despite their sketchy backgrounds, in each other they find underlying decency, trust, and even some innocence as they bond.