"We Own the Night" was conceived much like "The Godfather." It is a film that examines a "la famiglia" devoted in this case to law enforcement, as opposed to law breaking.
Instead of the Corleone family, the Grusinsky family is headed by the patriarch Bert, who is chief of police in New York. His son Joseph is a rising, decorated captain. The other brother, Bobby, is the odd man out. Much like Michael Corleone, Bobby has distanced himself from the police in his family and has even taken the name Bobby Green, a successful manager of a nightclub.
While the filmmakers attempted to show great reverence for the men in blue, it was unfortunate that the police were almost completely incompetent against a Russian drug lord. The father is killed, and Joseph is so traumatized that he freezes at a critical moment and will eventually consider taking a desk job.
It us up to the uninitiated Bobby to do the work of the police to set up and finally break up the drug ring. A shortcoming of the film was in Bobby's interaction with his girlfriend Amada. After his abusive treatment of her, it was surprising that she would even put in an appearance at Bobby's "graduation" ceremony from the police academy.
The gritty realism was successful along with well-conceived crowd scenes. But the film never rose anywhere near the intricate family drama of the "The Godfather." And the motto of "to protect and serve" of the NYPD suffered a case of the blues.
Instead of the Corleone family, the Grusinsky family is headed by the patriarch Bert, who is chief of police in New York. His son Joseph is a rising, decorated captain. The other brother, Bobby, is the odd man out. Much like Michael Corleone, Bobby has distanced himself from the police in his family and has even taken the name Bobby Green, a successful manager of a nightclub.
While the filmmakers attempted to show great reverence for the men in blue, it was unfortunate that the police were almost completely incompetent against a Russian drug lord. The father is killed, and Joseph is so traumatized that he freezes at a critical moment and will eventually consider taking a desk job.
It us up to the uninitiated Bobby to do the work of the police to set up and finally break up the drug ring. A shortcoming of the film was in Bobby's interaction with his girlfriend Amada. After his abusive treatment of her, it was surprising that she would even put in an appearance at Bobby's "graduation" ceremony from the police academy.
The gritty realism was successful along with well-conceived crowd scenes. But the film never rose anywhere near the intricate family drama of the "The Godfather." And the motto of "to protect and serve" of the NYPD suffered a case of the blues.