Yikes, talk about turning what looked like a good movie into amateur hour. We Own the Night makes the New York Police Department look like the largest group of bumbling fools ever assembled. In speaking with a couple New Yorkers they told me that the portrayal is spot on, but when it comes down to some of the decisions the cops make in this flick it immediately ruins the whole illusion.
The film begins with a cool little scene evoking power and ambition. Joaquin Phoenix stars as Bobby Green and we follow him into an upstairs room at El Caribe, a popular Russian-owned nightclub in Brooklyn’s Brighton Beach that he manages. Inside is Amada (Eva Mendes), his sexy as hell Puerto Rican girlfriend. Like something straight out of an old school gangster flick he slides his hand down her body giving off the impression that this guy just might be the King of New York City. A rap on the door from his muscle head friend Jumbo tells Bobby it is time to go, but you just know he is going to pick up where he left off later once the night cools down. This is the world We Own the Night creates, but it is not the world we will ultimately see.
Bobby comes from a family of cops; his brother Joseph (Mark Wahlberg) and his father (Robert Duvall) are still part of the force and Joseph has just been promoted. Upon attending a party celebrating Joseph’s promotion Bobby is told of plans to bring down a Russian drug dealer that frequents his club and the hit is going to happen at his club. Ultimately Bobby gets caught up in the mix and his relationship to his police-employed family becomes mafia knowledge leading to not only himself, but his family becoming targets.
The rest of the film involves bad dialogue and bad decisions, all culminating in one of the most outlandish and poorly sought out drug seizures ever. Writer/director James Gray was obviously making an effort with this film to focus more on the family dynamic and the emotional toll the events played on their relationships, but he never really manages to create anything other than empty vessels for his characters. After the first scene with Bobby we expect one thing, but ultimately the pimp/playboy turns out to be a pussy, and that is all before we reach the second act where things get flipped again.
We Own the Night certainly has moments to remember including an ultra-cool shot of Eva Mendes in a red bustier walking down the hall as the smoke from her cigarette circles her body, followed by a fantastic car chase scene that really is top notch. Too bad everything that is good about this film can’t nearly outweigh the bad. We Own the Night would have been better off told in a made-for-TV movie rather than ever hitting the big screen.
