defines "jungle fever" as sexual attraction between members of two races. In his film , he examines the repercussions of an interracial affair upon two very distinct communities. is Flipper, a happily married and successful architect, and is Angie, an office temp. When she starts working in Flipper's Manhattan office, one day they look at each other and are soon having sex over a blueprint-strewn desk. Their liaison causes an explosion on both homefronts. Flipper's family consists of his father Doctor Purify ( ), a former preacher; his mother Lucinda ( ); his violent, crackhead brother Gator ( ); and his wife Drew ( ), whom he loves, despite his sexual attraction to Angie. Angie's family is a typical Italian-American household from Bensonhurst. She's engaged to Paulie Carbonne ( ), who in a deli owned by his father Lou ( ). When the two families find out about Flipper and Angie's affair, their shock leads to recriminations and racial animosity.