Raw Deal

The 1986 American action film "Raw Deal," directed by John Irvin, follows former FBI agent Mark Kaminski (Arnold Schwarzenegger), who was forced to resign from the Bureau after severely beating a suspect involved in the rape and murder of a young girl. Now working as a small-town sheriff and facing a strained marriage with his alcoholic wife Amy, Kaminski is approached by his former FBI superior Harry Shannon (Darren McGavin), whose son was recently killed during an FBI operation gone wrong. Shannon offers Kaminski an off-the-books mission to infiltrate and dismantle the Chicago mafia organization led by Luigi Patrovita (Sam Wanamaker), whose influence is growing and whose reach includes corruption within federal ranks. Kaminski fakes his own death in a chemical plant explosion, assumes the identity of a criminal named Joseph P. Brenner, and gains the trust of Patrovita’s enforcers Paulo Rocca and Max Keller. By successfully recovering confiscated heroin and eliminating rival mob boss Martin Lamanski, Kaminski becomes deeply embedded in the gang. He befriends Monique (Kathryn Harrold), a woman connected to Keller, and uses her to gain more insight into the organization. As his mission unfolds, Kaminski discovers that an insider within the FBI is feeding information to the mob, leading to tragic losses. The film culminates in a violent confrontation where Kaminski exposes the traitor and eliminates the crime syndicate in a brutal showdown. "Raw Deal" is a quintessential 1980s action movie that blends undercover intrigue, themes of justice and vengeance, and the physical dominance of Schwarzenegger with a backdrop of organized crime and moral ambiguity.