We Own the Night (film)

We Own the Night (film)
We Own the Night is a 2007 American action thriller film directed and written by James Gray, co-produced by and starring Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg, and co-starring Eva Mendes and Robert Duvall. It is the third film directed by Gray, and the second to feature Phoenix and Wahlberg together, the first being 2000's The Yards. The title comes from the motto of the NYPD's Street Crimes Unit, which disbanded in 2002.
The film premiered on May 25, 2007 at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival, and was released in the United States on October 12, 2007, ultimately receiving mixed reviews from critics and grossing $55 million.
Plot
In Brooklyn, New York in November 1988, Robert "Bobby" Grusinsky is the manager of the El Caribe nightclub in Brighton Beach, owned by his boss, fur importer Marat Buzhayev, whose nephew, mobster Vadim Nezhinski, is a patron of the joint. Estranged from his father Albert ("Burt"), an NYPD Deputy Chief, and brother Joseph, a newly-minted Captain, he uses his late mother Carol's maiden name, Green, as his alias and hangs out with his mate Amada Juarez and best friend Louis "Jumbo" Falsetti, aiming to soon own a club in Manhattan. Joseph, recently appointed to be in charge of a newly-formed anti-drug unit, warns Bobby he will lead a bust on the spot, hoping to net Vadim.
Bobby is locked up for possessing drugs and resisting arrest in the raid on November 22, 1988, souring his relations with Burt and Joseph, who bail him out the next morning; the brothers then come to blows in a harsh feud. That evening, a masked Vadim, whom the police fail to convict, shoots Joseph in the face outside of his house and firebombs his car, hospitalizing him at Jamaica Hospital Medical Center for 4 months. Unaware of Bobby's ties, he picks Burt as a target. Bobby infiltrates Vadim's cocaine-smuggling operation with a transceiver hidden in a lighter, but when the device is exposed, the police storm the operation and seize Vadim.
Bobby's bond with his girl begins to fall to pieces while they are cooped up at the Cue Motor Inn, and they prep for a move to the Corona Hotel once Vadim flees from Rikers Island on March 20, 1989, to Elmhurst Hospital due to acute chest pains. In the midst of a heavy deluge, his men ambush the three-car police escort, and one of the men kills Burt with a shot to the head. Bobby blacks out upon seeing his body in the rain; he wakes up a few hours later in a suite at the Sheraton hotel near Kennedy Airport and breaks down in tears as Joseph tells him that Burt is dead. At the funeral a week later, Captain Jack Shapiro, a colleague of the family, gives Burt's Korean War medal to Joseph and informs him a Russian cocaine shipment is set to arrive in the coming week.
To avenge Burt's death, Bobby opts to formally join the force and become a full-time police officer; Amada breaks up with him for his choice to pursue such a risky career change without asking for her prior input or consent. Sworn in by Commissioner Patrick Ruddy due to his "special knowledge", provided that he will undergo his required training at the Police Academy when the case is wrapped up, he questions Jumbo on the night of April 2, 1989, who admits that he betrayed him by leaking word from Amada re the pair's location to Marat, which led to Burt being killed. The siblings plan a final sting for that Tuesday, as Bobby recounts that Marat's grandchildren ride horses at Floyd Bennett Field on Tuesdays and per Jumbo, they act as his couriers. During the sting, Joseph is paralyzed by the memory of his attack and unable to continue, and so Bobby chases Vadim into the reed beds. As the officers, having cuffed Marat, toss flares into the beds, he goes in to find Vadim, defying their pleas to wait until he comes out. He then finds and kills him with a blow to the chest from his shotgun.
On November 3, 1989, close to a year after the film's opening, Bobby, now in uniform, graduates from the Academy with honors. Prior to the ceremony, Joseph admits that he will take up a job in administration to spend more time at home with his children. As the chaplain begins the ceremony by stating in his speech that Bobby will give the valedictorian address after the invocation, noting that he was the highest academic achiever of his class, Bobby sees a young woman fairly similar to Amada who is seated in the crowd and accepts that his bond with Amada has been broken for good. During the invocation, the siblings, seated side by side on stage, express their brotherly love, ending the film.
Cast
Joaquin Phoenix as Robert "Bobby" Green / Grusinsky
Mark Wahlberg as Captain Joseph "Joe" Grusinsky, Bobby's brother
Eva Mendes as Amada Juarez, Bobby's girlfriend
Robert Duvall as Deputy Chief Albert "Burt" Grusinsky, Bobby's and Joe's father
Antoni Corone as Lieutenant Michael Solo, a colleague of Bobby's family
Moni Moshonov as Marat Buzhayev
Danny Hoch as Louis "Jumbo" Falsetti, Bobby's best friend and assistant manager
Tony Musante as Captain Jack Shapiro, a colleague of Bobby's family
Paul Herman as NYPD Deputy Commissioner Spiro Giavannis
Alex Veadov as Vadim Nezhinski, Marat's nephew
Oleg Taktarov as Pavel Lubyarski, an accomplice of Vadim's
Dominic Colon as Freddie, the bouncer at El Caribe
Craig Walker as Detective Russell De Keifer
Fred Burrell as NYPD Commissioner Patrick Ruddy
Yelena Solovey as Kalina Buzhayev, Marat's wife
Maggie Kiley as Sandra Grusinsky, Joseph's wife
Edward Shkolnikov as Eli Mirichenko, the husband of Marat's and Kalina's daughter Masha
Edward Conlon as Hospital Guard
Coati Mundi as himself
Ed Koch, who was Mayor of New York City during the time frame in which the film is set, makes a cameo appearance as himself.
Reception
Critical response
On Rotten Tomatoes, 57% of 153 critics gave the film positive reviews, with an average rating of 5.8/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Bland characters, clichéd dialogue and rickety plotting ensure We Own The Night never lives up to its potential." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 59 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film a grade "B−" on an A+ to F scale.
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote: "This is an atmospheric, intense film, well acted, and when it's working it has a real urgency." Peter Travers of Rolling Stone called it "defiantly, refreshingly unhip" and gave it 3 out of 4.
Box office
In its opening weekend in the United States and Canada, the film grossed $10.8 million in 2,362 theaters, ranking #3 at the box office. The film grossed a total of $54.5 million worldwide — $28.6 million in the United States and Canada and $26.5 million in other territories.
In April 2006, after acquiring multiple international rights, Universal Pictures announced its acquisition of domestic rights to the film. However, Sony Pictures later paid $11 million for the domestic rights, releasing it through its Columbia Pictures division.
By June 2017, the film had totaled $22 million in DVD sales and $32 million in DVD rentals.
References
External links
2007 films
2000s English-language films
2007 crime thriller films
2007 crime drama films
American crime thriller films
American crime drama films
American gangster films
American neo-noir films
Columbia Pictures films
Films about the New York City Police Department
Films about the Russian Mafia
Films directed by James Gray
Films produced by Joaquin Phoenix
Films produced by Mark Wahlberg
Films scored by Wojciech Kilar
Films set in 1988
Films set in 1989
Films set in Brooklyn
Films with screenplays by James Gray
Universal Pictures films
Films about brothers
Films about father–son relationships
2000s American films