In the 1980's New York City was filled with crime and the Russians were flooding the streets with drugs. In their efforts to reclaim the city from its seedier criminal element, the NYPD took on the slogan "We Own the Night." This was made a part of the uniform patch as they took to the dark streets and began the long task of getting it cleaned up.
As a slogan the phrase is effective and should succeed in getting you amped up to get out there and start the clean-up; however, as a movie title, it is a little less effective. Considering the epic feel the the phrase carries (at least to me), the personal nature of the film makes it an underwhelming choice. As for the contents of the film, the results are solid, effective, but ultimately as underwhelming as the title.
The plot of We Own the Night is nothing new; the basics have been around for thousands of years. You could actually read the pitch in the Bible. That's right, the story told in We Own the Night can be traced back to a parable told by Jesus. Of course, it is not exactly the same, but the structure can easily be gleaned from this story from two thousand years ago.
The parable of "The Prodigal Son" has been taken and re-fashioned into a personal story of two brothers, a father, and the Russian mob which threatens to tear them apart. Now it's a good riff, even if it takes that Biblical foundation and pretties it up with the clichés of the crime drama. The result is competent, if slightly bland, punctuated with some blood and spiced with some enticing action sequences.
The film opens with a series of black and white photographs of police in the '80s, in the precinct house and making busts. It cuts from there to an erotic encounter between night club manager Bobby Green (Joaquin Phoenix) and his party girl girlfriend Amada (Eva Mendes). It is a scene heightened by apparent drug use and sets the stage for what Bobby is all about — having fun, making money, and assuming a "don't ask" attitude with regard to the drug dealing that may or may not be going on within the confines of the club. In this setting, Bobby is the king of the night as reinforced by his boss, Russian club owner Marat Buzhayev (Moni Moshonov).
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