Movies and Theology--We Own the Night

Two brothers on opposite sides of the narcotics war: cop Joseph (Mark Wahlberg) and club manager Bobby (Joaquin Phoenix). When Joe asks Bobby to help him get a narc dealer that frequents Bobby's club, Bobby refuses. He doesn't want to get involved. He's worked hard to separate himself from this "perfect" cop family (father, played by Robert Duvall, also a cop) and build the life he has doing what he wants. Not to mention the fact that the narc dealer happens to be the nephew of the club owner, who's a father-figure to Bobby. You'll have to choose a side, Joe and Dad warn him. It's a war out there.

Then Joe's shot by the narc dealer's men. Enter Bobby with a vengeance.

There are some questionable things about the plot (i.e. Bobby's sudden turning to protect his family after spending years trying to distance himself from that, but guilt is a powerful thing, I guess; also, the police dept comes off looking a little stupid--I found myself thinking, would they really do that?), and Mark W. never gets the chance to build Joe's character (not because of being shot, mind you, but because his part never allows it), and really, all the characters are a little stock, and the dialogue isn't the best. (Joaquin does a good job with his angst-ridden character--I think that's become his specialty. Doctors train for specialized fields. Actors train for specialized roles? Oh, and Eva Mendez did an excellent job--I'm coming to like her more and more. Ashame about Ghost Rider. She could've been a contender.)

But, I liked the movie. I thought the acting was good. I thought it was a powerful story about family and the things we do to family and the things we do for family. I liked that the heroes aren't bigger than life. They're everyday people with everyday fears who chose a side and fought. They can't kung-fu fight all of the sudden. They're motivations are mixed at best--more along the lines of an Oedipus hero--but they're driven by love and justice.

And they chose sides. Joe (or is it the dad?) tells Bobby in the beginning that he's going to have to choose sides at some point. There's a war. Too many of us are like Bobby. We don't realize that there's a war. We don't realize that we'll have to choose sides. Our fight isn't against flesh and blood--it's not against political leaders or Hollywood directors or even Joel Osteen. It's a fight against the rulers and powers of darkness. It's against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavens (Ephesians 6:11-12). We can't keep pretending that the war isn't there. We don't all have to become cops, but we all have to choose a side and fight where we are. And that's what I liked about this movie. There are no innocent bystanders (okay, there's one--Bobby's girlfriend). But in the end, even she has to make a choice.

And I loved the last two lines of the movie. They were healing.

Note: A lot of cursing in the movie.