The new cop drama “We Own the Night” begins with such hustle it takes a good half-hour to realize it’s the audience that’s being shaken down.
Writer-director James Gray (“Little Odessa,” “The Yards”) squanders a bevy of resources — from terrific actors to a ripe criminal subculture — in revisiting themes already picked clean in better movies.
“Night” sets the scene with a haunting montage of cop imagery circa 1988.
Young, irresponsible Bobby (Joaquin Phoenix) runs a Russian-owned nightclub in Brooklyn. Life, especially with arm candy like actress Eva Mendes dripping off him, appears good.
And so, too, is Mr. Phoenix, proving his range expands with every film appearance. We’re only minutes into the feature and his performance already has us hooked.
Bobby’s brother Joseph (Mark Wahlberg) and their leathery pop (Robert Duvall) don’t have the luxury of kicking back like Bobby. They’re cops trying to derail a Russian drug cartel, and they tell Bobby their investigation is leading them toward his nightclub.
Bobby shakes off their warning, eager to keep his family ties a secret from his business associates. But events begin spinning out of his control to the point where he must reconsider his allegiances.
Meanwhile, the Russians are hitting back — hard — against the police, and Bobby’s family is in their sights.
The early sequences are far from novel, but they do tug us into the story. Father-son conflicts. The Russian mafia. Informant double-crosses. What’s not to like?
But Bobby’s transformation from hedonist to crime fighter is too seamless to be believed, especially when we’re given so little back story as to the family’s dynamic. And there’s very little that’s dynamic about Bobby’s brood.
Mr. Duvall could bring gravitas to a Fruit of the Loom commercial, but count “Night” as another project which fails to challenge the acting icon.
The same holds true for Mr. Wahlberg, who can deliver Oscar-caliber performances in one movie and then all but vanish behind his vacant stare the next. Here, his character drops out of sight for nearly half the film, and when he reappears, his presence doesn’t count for much.
The film’s first false note sounds during an early dance floor sequence featuring Blondie blasting from the club’s speakers. Didn’t the film just tell us the year is 1988? As warning signs go, it’s pretty innocuous, but by the final reel, several characters are acting out in ways that push the story forward at the expense of credibility.
“Night” does deliver two outstanding action sequences. One is a killer car chase that plays out during a rainstorm. (Why don’t more directors set their car chases in nasty weather?) And a drug bust sequence is equally potent, with Bobby finally realizing the consequences of keeping his head buried in the sand.
“We Own the Night” summons three fine actors and a ripe premise, but Mr. Gray’s clumsy approach arrests the film’s best intentions.
**
TITLE: “We Own the Night”
RATING: R (Nudity, sexual situations, adult language and strong violence)
CREDITS: Written and directed by James Gray. Cinematography by Joaquin Baca-Asay. Original music by Wojciech Kilar.
RUNNING TIME: 114 minutes
WEB SITE: www.sonypictures.com/movies/weownthenight/
MAXIMUM RATING: FOUR STARS
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