[Movie Review] WE OWN THE NIGHT
If there was ever a film that defined the word “meh”, this is that film. I was actually looking forward to this film. The trailers looked intriguing, and I like the two leads whose fat heads are hogging that poster to the left. The film has a great premise, great actors, this film has it all. So why did I feel incredibly underwhelmed when the credits rolled?
The premise really is a great idea. Bobby Green(Joaquin Phoenix) is the manager of a kickass club in New York City in the 80s. He’s got a piece of ass girlfriend named Amada(an absolutely gorgeous Eva Mendes), and the city at his feet. Problem is, he’s mixed up with some Russian drug dealers, none of whom are aware that Mr. Green is actually Mr. Grudinsky…..as in the son of the Chief of Police(Robert Duvall) and the brother of police captain Joseph(Marky Mark). Naturally, Bobby’s place in the criminal world doesn’t sit too well with his law-enforcing family. Once the Russians find out who Bobby really is after the cops start poking around the club, the crap hits the fan. The duality of Bobby’s situation reminded me a bit of similar themes from The Departed(also starring Marky Mark), but unfortunately, this film barely goes into this issue. This thing had real potential to rise above a typical crime/cop movie and become something truly special. The Departed did that. We Own the Night does not.
The odd thing about this film is that it truly is a meh movie. You guys know that if I LOVE a flick, I’m ready to gush over it. If I HATE a flick, I’m ready to eviscerate it. With this, I’m finding myself in limbo. There was nothing offensively bad here, but there was nothing incredibly noteworthy, either. The performances are alright. Marky Mark does alright, but seeing him do just “alright” after I saw what he did in The Departed just underwhelmed me. He was basically playing a watered-down version of his character from that film here. Joaquin Phoenix is a phenomenal talent, but you’d never know it watching this film. Say what you will about the film overall, but his performance in Walk the Linewas fantastic. Here, he’s just…slumming would be too harsh of a word, but he isn’t exactly on his A-game, either. Robert Duvall is criminally underused. Eva Mendes…she’s not here for her great acting chops, okay? She’s here to bring the boobs, and she did that as well as she could, although this film probably would have benefited from excising her character. Other than the aforementioned boobs, she brings nothing to this film, and the film would have been stronger had it concentrated more on the bond between the three men rather than spend so much time with her and Bobby.
It’s not that the film is even boring, either. There’s always something going on, something to watch, but I just wasn’t very engaged by the film. Like I said, it’s very meh. Whenever something happened, I felt no reaction. I just shrugged my shoulders and kept watching. A massive tragedy happens near the end of the second act(and if you’ve seen ANY movie like this, you know what I’m talking about), but not only could I see it coming a mile away, it had zero impact when it did happen. I believe that this film’s main problem is its story. There is nothing to pull you in, nothing to make you root for or against any of these characters. The film could have played more on the turmoil with Bobby and his family, but by the beginning of Act III, they are conveniently swept aside to make way for a cliched cop revenge movie shootout. I’ve seen this crap before, and I’ve seen it done much better than this. Even worse, the film takes Bobby’s character in a completely unrealistic direction that had me saying “WHAT?!” aloud. I’m about to give a spoiler, so if you want to remain unspoiled, just skip the rest of this paragraph, okay? Cool. Now, for those who’ve stuck around: After the tragedy of Act II, Bobby decides to become a cop. Now, call me nuts, but don’t you have to go to a police academy to become a cop? He asks to become a cop, the higher-ups give the ok, and he just waltzes into an office and gets sworn in as a cop. I’m sorry, I know Bobby has valuable inside info on the baddies, but he could have given that info without magically becoming a cop! That was just plain ridiculous, and it took me right out of the film(not that I was really in it to begin with).
Basically, this is the kind of film that you’ll see once on TV and immediately forget about afterwards. It’s not horrible, but it could have been much better. Bummer.
One Response to “[Movie Review] WE OWN THE NIGHT”
Interesting review Kris – it’s funny that how you describe this flick, is how I felt about EASTERN PROMISES.
It’ll be interesting to see what I think of us. My DVD Screener arrives next week!
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