Joaquin Phoenix plays Bobby Green, a freewheeling manager of a club run by a Russian businessman, Marat Bujayev, who would seemingly much rather spend time with this grandkids than running his business - both of them. While Bobby runs the nightclub, Marat's nephew, Vadim, helps to run Marat's drug trafficking operation, which is run out of the club. Though Bobby has no involvement in Marat's side business, it is significant enough to gain the attention of an NYPD drug task force led by Police Chief Burt Grusinsky (Robert Duvall) and his son, Joe Grusinsky (Mark Wahlberg). What seems like a simple operation is complicated by the fact that Bobby is the black sheep of the Grusinsky family - so much so that Bobby has taken to using his mother's maiden name. Other than Marat, Bobby's only real family is his girlfriend, Amada (Eva Mendes).
Following an embarrassing raid on the nightclub, Vadim places a hit on both Joe and Burt. At the same time, he offers Bobby a piece of the drug deals going on in the club. Bobby's family ties win out, causing him to work undercover for the police and help take down his surrogate family.
As far as the plot goes, We Own the Night is about as predictable as a movie can get. Though there are a number of slight twists to the familiar story, there is nothing about the film that ever comes as a surprise.
Phoenix is the centerpiece of the entire movie and were it not for his excellent performance, the movie wouldn't be quite as engaging. While both Duvall and Wahlberg turn in good performances, they aren't on screen nearly as much as they probably should be and feel like one-sided characters. On the other hand, only seeing Bobby's point of view makes the movie's key scenes that much better. Knowing that Bobby is essentially putting his entire life on the line adds an uncomfortable tension to the movie, especially during one of Bobby's initial meetings with Vadim and an excellent car chase scene which is the movie's signature moment. While a bit of tension is always good, the film doesn't always deliver after the buildup. In truth, other than the meeting and chase scenes, only one other scene really pays off in the end, while the rest will leave you hanging.
One of the more surprising elements of the entire movie is Mendes's character. Rather than fall into the typical archetype of the money/ power-grubbing girlfriend, Amada really does care for Bobby, adding a neat dynamic to their relationship, especially after Bobby agrees to help the police. Unfortunately, the buildup eventually goes nowhere and is left unresolved.
Although We Own the Night is headlined by a trio of accomplished actors and features above-average direction, the generic feel makes it a film that spends a lot of time circling great rather than being great.
