The basic premise of the 2007 James Gray film We Own the Night is one that has been used in Hollywood countless times. It’s the story of two brothers who end up on “opposite sides of the law” and who end up crossing and re-crossing each other’s paths. In the end, they both must make choices about just how far they’re willing to go for family.
Although this setup will be instantly familiar to moviegoers of all ages, We Own the Night doesn’t play out quite as predictably as you might expect. That’s what makes it worth watching at least once.
Plot summary (with possible spoilers): Bobby Green (played by Joaquin Phoenix) is the manager of El Caribe, one of the hottest nightclubs in Brooklyn. The place is owned by an older man named Marat Buzhayev (Moni Moshonov), who treats Bobby like family. The man acts more as an uncle than a boss, and Bobby feels like he has really found his niche.
Unfortunately, Marat is the brains behind a major drug dealing operation headed up by his nephew Vadim Nezhinski (Alex Veadov). Nezhinski uses El Caribe as his headquarters — a fact that the cops are perfectly aware of. Bobby also knows that this is going on, but he elects to turn a blind eye to to what Nezhinski is doing, preferring instead to just focus on running the club.
However, things get messy for Bobby when the cops decide to raid El Caribe one night. It just so happens that his father is Deputy Chief Bert Grusinsky (Robert Duvall) and his brother is Capt. Joe Grusinsky (Mark Wahlberg), the brains behind the sting.
After the raid, Nezhinski puts a hit out on Joe and the Deputy Chief. Joe is shot in the face right outside his home the night before Thanksgiving, which sends Bobby into shock. Although he didn’t have much to do with his family while he was running El Caribe, there’s no way he would choose to align himself with a Russian drug dealer and turn his back on his brother and father.
Things get even messier when Bobby is approached by both sides to join their teams. Nezhinski wants Bobby’s help distributing a particularly important drug shipment, while the police want Bobby to wear a wire and turn on Nezhinski.
The rest of the film then deals with Bobby’s choice, and the various consequences that follow. Although there aren’t any major surprises or plot twists, the story wasn’t as predictable as it could have been.
My Reaction: I thought We Own the Night was a decent film that I’m glad I saw. But at the same time, I don’t know if I would be willing to sit through the whole thing again. The film had a lot of positive characteristics, but the negatives dragged it down to an average effort at best.
One of the things I liked most about the movie was the way that the plot didn’t play out in a strictly formulaic way. For example, if this were a cookie cutter film, the Bobby would have had several close calls with Nezhinski before finally being “made” as a double agent. I was surprised that he was busted the very first time he carried a wire because I don’t think I’ve ever seen that happen in a movie before. Usually the writer likes to string this stuff out to build tension or whatever.
Another thing I liked was how Bobby’s girlfriend Amada (Eva Mendes) wasn’t the stereotypical club-owner girlfriend who was only interested in money. Nor was she a complete airhead who blew everything and cost people their lives, which is how these movie women usually are portrayed. It seemed that she actually loved Bobby, as evidenced by the fact that she showed up at graduation, and that was a refreshing change.
However, there were several things I didn’t like about We Own the Night. For one thing, I couldn’t stand Mark Wahlberg’s performance here. He was so wooden, bland, and boring, that I frankly didn’t care what happened to him at all. I usually enjoy his films and his performances, so I was disappointed by what I saw here. Same thing with Phoenix. He wasn’t wooden, but he mumbled so damn much that I had to turn the subtitles on just to make sure I caught what he was saying. Someone needs to tell that man that enunciation is a good thing.
Also, there were a few plot elements that seemed highly unrealistic to me. The main one that jumps out now is the car chase through the rain that resulted in the Deputy Chief’s death. Once again, we get movie bad guys that can’t hit the broad side of a barn when they’re shooting at the main characters. Of course they hit the driver of Bobby’s car in one try, but when Bobby takes over the wheel, the shooting skills suddenly disappear.
Despite these problems, I still thought We Own the Night was worth renting. I will never buy it and will likely never watch it again, but it wasn’t bad for a one-time viewing. I give it 3 stars out of 5.
Last night was the two-hour season finale of Grey’s Anatomy, and I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by what I saw! I have spent most of Season 4 complaining about the boring storylines and the uneven episodes, so I was very happy that the finale turned out so well. Did it redeem the entire season? Maybe not completely, but I’m not the kind of person who remembers every minute detail from every ep. That means the finale will be uppermost in my mind whenever I think about GA over the summer — not a bad thing in this case!
— I have never, ever been a Meredith/Derek fan, not even in Season 1 when it seemed that everyone loved them. But I have to admit that I was actually pulling for them a little bit by the end of the ep tonight. Granted, I thought laying candles in the shape of a house was dumb (not to mention practically impossible for Meredith to pull off), but the sentiment was okay. God, I can’t believe I’m writing this…!
— I liked Izzie again this episode. She finally did what she had to do, even though it incurred Alex’s wrath just like she knew it would. And it’s also good to see her get the clinic to herself. That’s where she belongs, not surgery.
How I Met Your Mother 3×20 — “Miracles”:
House 4×16 — “Wilson’s Heart”:
Bones 3×15 — “The Pain in the Heart”:
I bought my husband Jerry an 80GB iPod Classic for Christmas. This is one of the newer models that has the ability to play videos, and Jerry just loves the thing! He never leaves home without it, whether he’s headed to work, going for a jog, or simply walking to the corner store for a gallon of milk. I guess he’s one of those people that needs to be entertained at all times!
The premise of the 2008 caper film Mad Money seemed pretty interesting to me: Three ordinary women discover a way to smuggle money out of the supposedly impenetrable Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. It was marketed, if I recall correctly, as a comedy more than anything else, and starred Diane Keaton, Queen Latifah, Katie Holmes, and Ted Danson. I actually wanted to see Mad Money when it came out in theaters, but I was scared away by all the negative and lukewarm reviews it received, so I decided to wait until the DVD release.
Since Bee Movie received mixed reviews when it first came out, I wasn’t in any kind of hurry to see it. My five-year-old son didn’t even express interest in renting it, which should have served as a big tipoff that the movie didn’t have much appeal to kids. Judging from the trailers, there wasn’t much about it that would appeal to adults either, but I recently decided to rent it anyway. After all, the running time is only 90 minutes, so even if it was terrible, I wouldn’t have to suffer very long!
I was never much of a fan of summer TV programs until last year when I got hooked on USA Netowrk’s Burn Notice. That show turned out to be so popular with fans that it got renewed for a second season, and will be airing all-new episodes in a couple of months.
Last night’s episode of Desperate Housewives was the Season 4 finale, and as expected, we got a major time jump that will serve to change the show drastically beginning next season. The jump moved the action 5 years into the future, and gave us a glimpse at what the characters’ lives are like at that time. Some are gone, some are with other mates, and all have changed drastically.
— I loved the scene with Katherine and Bree discussing their catering plans at the shooting range. It’s been a while since we’ve seen that side of Bree, so I enjoyed it.
— A frumpy Gabby with two chubby daughters? Somehow, it actually fits.
After holding on to the top spot at the box office for two consecutive weeks, Iron Man has been dethroned by Prince Caspian, the second film in the Chronicles of Narnia series. Prince Caspian opened with a $56.6 million weekend gross, which was about $9 million less than its predecessor, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe did in 2005. Iron Man dropped to second with $31.2 million in ticket sales, and has now grossed $222 million in just three weeks.
Bones 3×14 — “The Wannabe in the Woods” 
House 4×15 — “House’s Head”
Lost 4×12, “There’s No Place Like Home, Part 1″
CSI 8×17 — “For Gedda”