Machine (2007)

Writer-director-producer Michael Lazar is also the star of Machine (2007), the seedy story of an ex-soldier-for-hire and all-around dick named Vic. As our super-anti-hero, Mike leads a pack of Los Angeles flimflam men with his pard, Paul Sloan, who helps him double deal everyone in sight. Together they pose as coppers to set up drug busts and then spirit away the cash, the coke, and the satisfaction of having put in a dishonest day's work. But when one of his deals ends with a shootout, Mike finds himself in a bit of a pickle--a pickle that's been dropped on a warehouse floor and trampled by the blood-soaked soles of mob men and their molls. Mike and Paul end up working for a crime boss (Nick Vallelonga) who needs witnesses silenced and bad deeds done. Michael Madsen puts in a cameo as Nick's henchman Ray, and James Russo does the same as a henchman for rival lord of all things scummy. Everybody's after everybody in Machine, but the real prizes are Michele Lombardo as the oh-so-layable Layla and lusty Lisa Arturo as Mike's main dame.