0/5

The Night Of

When a night of passion ends in murder a young man becomes a pawn in the US justice system.

2016-07-11_2308

The Night Of is a scintillating anatomy of the US justice system, landing on our screens at a time when the US is itself at flashpoint.

However the perpetrator here isn’t African-American but Pakistani-American.

University student Naz (Riz Ahmed) was born and bred in the US, but he knows what it feels like to be a minority by virtue of his heritage. But nothing will prepare him for what justice the US system will dish out when things go from bad to worse one night in New York.

When Naz borrows his father’s taxi to head to a party, a jaded young woman jumps in the car and asks for a ride. Putting his plans to one side, he drives her home and the two connect.

“Tonight feels different,” he decides.
“And you have no idea why,” she teases.

What follows is a night of wild passion, drugs and drink, but he awakens to find the girl’s body stabbed to death in bed. Panicking, he runs off, quickly attracting the attention of onlookers and eventually suspicious police.

Naz soon finds himself plunged into the American justice system, where a night of clumsy choices amounts to a whole lot of presumed guilt, made worse by the colour of one’s skin.

NYC Det. Dennis Box (Bill Camp) is sharp at his game, appearing outwardly as a “good cop” in order to elicit information. But ambulance-chasing lawyer Jack Stone (John Turturro) warns he is not to be trusted, working the system to within an inch of its legal life. Stone take pity on the young student alone in a police cell, and offers his services for what could be the case of his career. Meanwhile Naz’s family are about to get a rude lesson in the might of the justice system, and those who face it alone.

But the heart of this piece belongs to Riz Ahmed as the young man who wins our sympathy despite his foolish actions and question marks about whether he did or didn’t commit murder. The scenes where he waits patiently whilst police discover a crime scene, followed by another key moment in the police station, are edge-of-the-seat stuff. Ahmed’s performance holds it altogether in a role that will elevate him to wide attention.

Turturro, as the thong-wearing mistrustful lawyer, isn’t interested in the young man’s guilt or innocence -only in finding a crack in the system to get him off. Once he arrives towards the end of the first episode, it’s clear this will be a shared centrestage.

The Night Of is created by Steven Zaillian and Richard Price as an updated adaptation of 2008 UK miniseries Criminal Justice by Peter Moffat. Like House of Cards, this translates seamlessly to its new surrounds, where new legal hurdles and cultures come to the fore. Directed by Zaillian and James Marsh, it arrives with a clear, stylistic tone and plenty of insight into the downward spiral that is the police-court-prison path.

The late James Gandolfini was originally set for the role eventually portrayed by Turturro (and at one stage Robert de Niro), but he remains credited as an executive producer. It’s one he would have undoubtedly given equal stature.

This is only 8 episodes long and whilst not strictly a real-time saga, it masterfully brings tension, claustrophobia, and isolation to its plot, all seen through the eyes of its chess-piece, Naz. The opening episode runs at around 1:20 mins while subsequent episodes are 60 mins, but it never disappoints.

The Night Of is a brilliant case study of the American legal system and those who become bit players in a larger endgame. Don’t miss it.

The Night Of premieres 8:30pm Sunday on Showcase.

7 Responses

  1. Stunning series. Yes , it is based on the excellent, but very different, UK “Criminal Justice”, but it offers so, so much more in its own right! Brilliant to the very end.

    Don’t miss it!

  2. The first episode is up on foxtel’s Featured service for anyone who can’t wait until sunday – also can watch it on the foxtel website – an excellent 1st episode I might add.

  3. Yes, yes & more yes. This was probably the series that I was most looking forward to this year. I didn’t know that Gandolfini was slated for the role, but I’m a huge Turturro fan anyway. I hope it can sustain the 8 episodes, because these series are usually 6. The only issue is that you have this & the fantastic ‘Undercover’ on at the same time. Thank goodness Showcase has a +2 channel.

Leave a Reply