October 27, 2007 -- “We Own the Night” is a star-studded crime drama with Shakespearean overtones (Henry IV) but lacks the emotional punch it should have had. The basic story is melodramatic, but the screenplay by writer-director James Gray (“The Yards”) has an uncanny knack for going flat during each climactic scene. Great acting by a very talented cast helps bail out the film, but the result looks like a missed opportunity.

Joaquin Phoenix (“Walk the Line”), stars as Bobby Grusinsky, son of the New York Deputy Chief of Police, Burt Grusinsky (Robert Duvall of “Secondhand Lions”) and brother to a decorated policeman, Joseph Grusinsky (Mark Wahlberg of “The Departed”). Bobby, the black sheep of the family, runs a nightclub which is a front for the Russian Mafia. He has changed his name to Bobby Green and nobody knows about his connection to the Grusinsky family except for his girlfriend, Amada Juarez (Eva Mendes of “Ghost Rider”). Bobby is moving up in the world and his nightclub is a big success. Then his brother raids the club, hoping to catch a major drug dealer holding drugs. He catches the drug dealer, Vadim Nezhinski (Alex Veadov of “Neighborhood Watch”) in the raid but the crime boss is too smart to be caught holding drugs. His right hand man takes the fall.

When Vadim Nezhinski puts a hit out on Joseph Grusinsky and then brags about it to Bobby, Bobby turns informant. When Nezhinski threatens Bobby's father, he turns his back on his comfortable life and sides with his family. At one point Bobby's father tells him that the drug trade in the city is a war and he will have to decide which side he is on, the drug dealers or the cops. He chooses the cops, but really he is just choosing his family. As the movie goes on, Bobby becomes more sure of himself and more powerful, even though he loses people close to him and his new role in life isn't as glamorous and doesn't pay as well. In effect, Bobby accepts his destiny.

All of this sounds like powerful drama, but there aren't many payoffs. The drama is strangely flat. The best relationship in the movie is between Bobby and his girlfriend, Amada. That relationship runs out of gas, too, just like every other relationship in the movie. The relationship between Bobby and his father isn't quite as convincing as Bobby's relationship with the grandfatherly owner of El Caribe, Marat Buzhayev (Moni Moshonov of “Forgiveness”). Bobby's relationship with his brother is even less convincing. Part of the trouble is that the plot doesn't spend much time developing those relationships. There should be some drama in the tough choices Bobby has to make between his conflicting allegiances and his inclination to avoid conflicts. These choices are made quickly and seemingly without much difficulty, further reducing the drama.

Phoenix, Wahlberg and Duvall are all fine actors and Eva Mendes is very good in this film. One of the Russian mobsters, Pavel Lubyarsky (Oleg Taktarov of “National Treasure”) is about as menacing as any bad guy you'll ever see in a movie. The fault is not theirs. The fault lies in the writing and direction, which turns every climax in this melodrama almost into an anti-climax. Typical are two scenes from the film, a car chase and a shootout. Both scenes were staged in interesting ways, but the payoff just wasn't there in either scene. It all seemed a little too objective, keeping the audience at arms length emotionally. Nevertheless, the acting is good and the story is basically sound. With a few tweaks here and there it could have been something special. This film rates a C+.

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Copyright © 2007 Robert Roten. All rights reserved.
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