Movie rec: We Own the Night

[bedlamsbard]

So, I saw this movie, and my first reaction was along the general lines of: this seems really familiar. Have I written this? I was thinking about it, and then it hit me a couple of days ago (I have been really busy, you see).

I didn't write this. I wrote the exact opposite. See, in We Own the Night, the main character is a mobster who eventually joins up with his family on the NYPD side of things when the mob starts going after his (all NYPD) family. In the Bardverse, the main character is a cop who eventually joins up with the mob after the NYPD starts going after his (all Mafia) family. How about that?

I really did like the movie. We Own the Night takes place in New York City, in 1988; the main character is Bobby Green, a nightclub manager who works on and off/with the Russian Mob. He's got vaguely mixed loyalties: his father is the Deputy Chief of Police, his bother Joseph Grusinsky (Bobby took his mother's name) is a captain in the NYPD and has just been dubbed to lead the unit that's going after the Russian Mob, which is dealing pretty heavily in drugs. Joseph goes after Bobby's nightclub, which is actually owned by a Russian mob boss; the mob reciprocates by shooting Joseph in the face and firebombing his car.

No, really. Shooting Joseph in the face. They shot Mark Wahlberg in the face. Fortunately, he lives, but it's enough to turn Bobby's loyalties back towards the cops, as well as his estranged father, and he turns informant. Then the mob goes after his father.

This is really a family drama with the mob as a backdrop, which apparently confused a lot of critics, who feel that a movie should be either an action flick or a drama, not both. There's action, but it's not the focus of the story; instead, it's used as impetus for the emotional plot. The movie's full of really amazing actors: Joaquin Phoenix plays Bobby, Mark Wahlberg plays Joseph, Robert Duvall plays their father, Eva Mendes plays Bobby's girlfriend Amada.

I really strongly recommend this movie, because it's a great police/mob drama. I recced The Departed a while back; this is as good as that is. And if you're Bardverse/CSI:NY, then it's very family-oriented; like I said earlier, it's basically the polar opposite of the Bardverse in terms of what actually happened, but the same thing in terms of subject matter.

In conclusion: NYPD/mob flick. Very highly recommended. Also, more NYPD dress uniforms than I have ever seen before in my life. CSI:NY, take a hint!

Comments

[limmenel.livejournal.com]

Haha, I remember seeing this back when it first came out in theatres, and then calling buffy_lily to FLAIL because IT'S JUST LIKE BARDVERSE OMG ONLY WITH THE RUSSIAN MOB INSTEAD!

[bedlamsbard.livejournal.com]

It's the Bardverse in reverse. It was the weirdest sense of deja vu ever. I kept trying to figure it into the Bardverse, like -- and it only worked if I put it at CSI:NY level and Bobby was Louie and Joseph was Danny and the Russian mob was Sonny Sassone and the Tanglewood Boys, which also sort of worked, only not really.

I mean, wow. *flails*