WE OWN THE NIGHT/Austin Film Society

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this film and loved the program notes given to us  by David Chisholm, AFS intern tonight.  This is the New York City I know so well and miss.  It's 1988, NYC is dangerous and crime is being fought by working class cops who come out of blue collar neighborhoods and local Catholic schools.  They move to cop neighborhoods in Staten Island, Queens, Long Island and Orange County, NYS.  The criminals are big time dope dealers, Russian mafia types.   The girlfriends are Puerto Rican, Italian, Dominican and hot, hot, hot.  The clubs are gaudy and chintzy, and families are torn apart by loyalty to kin vs a desire to ride the fast wave.  And then there is Joaquin Phoenix, the family's bad boy who returns to the fold, emerges brave and strong and avenges his family's losses.  And David Chisholm gets it.  A character who is driven by fate and  his destiny.  And Abe and I know these characters so well and cheer them on.  These are the cops we met in hospital Emergency Rooms: bringing in victims of violence, abused kids, and each other wounded and hurt.  We love these cop films and their realistic police stations.  This was my city before it became an expensive trendy place to shop and eat and be seen.  Thank-you Holly Herrick for bringing this to us, an appreciated reminder.