In 1998, New York's finest wage a war on the drugs that have begun to corrupt their town. Merging the guilty and innocent, no one is safe as both sides see casualties. Bobby Green (Phoenix), a manager of a night club frequented by the town's drug lords, tries to remain neutral, but his dark secret could lead to his death. Bobby's brother (Wahlberg) and father (Duvall) are both acclaimed NYPD officers and are in leading the newly declared war. Caught somewhere in the middle, Bobby and his new girlfriend (Mendes) are forced to choose a side and fight. Will they side with the family that Bobby has tried to rid himself of for so long or will they play with the dealers and users, a group that both have come to call friends. With the pressure mounting Bobby acts knowing that the wrong choice could easily lead to his death.
Though We Own the Night is dark and intense, it is handicapped by its generic story line, miscasting and predictability resulting in your typical good guy vs. bad guy cop/drug drama.
The acting in the film was amazing. Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg worked brilliantly together, giving stellar performance, creating that "˜family' bond and selling it. Mark Wahlberg goes the cop route again, which got him an Oscar nomination for last year's Departed, and proves that he is no one hit wonder. However, though the performances were great, I have a hard time buying the two men as actual brothers. Their personalities and demeanors are completely opposite, not to mention their contrasting looks and behaviors. The two men were as different as possible, which was kind of the point but was taken to an unnecessary extreme. Then you have to deal with Robert Duvall who was also miscast as the boys' father and the problem goes full circle. Regardless though, the performances were great.
The other major hiccup was the predictability of the film. The story was a generic, over told tale about a man having to choose between his family whom he wants to distance himself from and his friends that are always there keeping him going. The story has been told a million times with maybe two or three different endings, and ultimately noting new results from this feature. Not to mention the ending, which seemed to allow everything to sort of fall into place and be easier than imaginable. The film just seemed to take the easy route to everything.
But don't get me wrong, there are some intense moments where I found myself holding my breath and wondering if they were going to go the "˜predictable' route or put a new angle into the story, but every time they chose the "˜old school' path which led to major disappointment.
In the end, I have to admit that the film wasn't that bad. In fact it was pretty decent. You just have to get over the whole "˜family' illusion and prepare for the old run of the mill story, which many do appreciate and enjoy.
