Going into the movie, I didn't really know what to expect. I mean, I'd seen a commercial or two, but not enough to really understand what I'd be watching for two hours on a Friday night. I'm glad I walked into that theatre though, because this was a pretty darn good movie. It's set in New York City in 1988 &emdash; gangsters versus cops, with the former actually owning the night over the latter. The cops' authority has diminished so much that a group of Russian gangsters refer to them as "Mickey Mouse." Anyways, the movie centers around one family in the middle of this war on the streets: the father is Police Chief Burt Grusinsky (Robert Duvall); one son is policeman Joseph Grusinsky (Mark Wahlberg); and the other is Bobby Green (Joaquin Phoenix). Why, you ask, does Bobby have a different last name? Simple: to protect his identity. While Joe embodies everything that his father wanted in a son, Bobby is nearly the opposite &emdash; disrespectful, arrogant, and of course, not a policeman. Green is the manager of a successful nightclub, and it is owned by the kingpin of the Russian gang. The movie really gets going when Joe makes a major drug bust in his brother's club; the perpetrator is Vadim Nezhinski. Now for a break in the plot for some praise: Vadim is a downright scary villain. He shows no fear, he has a creepy ponytail, and he's extremely intimidating. This leads me to another point: the acting in this movie was great! I could feel the emotions of the major characters leaping out at me. This is doubly important as the movie gets deeper in its plot. Soon after the drug bust, Joe is ambushed in front of his home by a masked assassin, and when Bobby hears about it, he decides to become an double agent. The rest of the movie contains more powerful acting and a couple of superb action scenes &emdash; I could feel my own heart beating as fast as Bobby's at one point. Now, I do have a couple complaints: the movie seemed to drag on towards the end and it was completely gruesome in some parts. It would definitely not be appropriate for kids (the R rating should say that much) because of swearing and huge amounts of blood. Otherwise, I thought it was a great movie to see, especially since I haven't seen a good one for I don't know how long.
