If you live in New York City, you have probably seen the subway ads for attorney Jack Stone. But likely unbeknownst to unintelligent criminals, Stone is not a real attorney, but instead is one of the main characters of the new HBO mystery miniseries The Night Of. The first episode of The Night Of, which portrays the prosecution and defense of a young man accused of a brutal murder, shows a lot of promise (this column contains spoilers through that episode).
The Night Of tells the story of Nasir “Nas” Khan (Riz Ahmed), a college student of Pakistani descent living with his family in Jackson Heights, Queens. One Friday night, Nas and a friend are invited to a party in downtown Manhattan. After Nas’s friend bails on him at the last minute, Nas steals his father’s taxicab and drives into the city. Nas’s night goes downhill quickly, as he gets lost and has to fend off potential passengers who try to get into the cab. One of those passengers is Andrea (Sofia Black D’Elia), a mysterious woman who asks Nas to take her to the beach. Nas and Andrea quickly bond, and Andrea invites Nas back to her extremely expensive townhouse near Central Park, where they proceed to drink tequila, take drugs, and have sex. Nas wakes up in a haze only to discover that Andrea has been brutally stabbed. Nas tries to flee, but is arrested for failing to use his turn signal. The police, including Detective Dennis Box (Bill Camp), eventually realize that Nas was in Andrea’s apartment, and he quickly becomes the prime suspect in her murder. Enter defense attorney Jack Stone (John Turturro), who is present at the police station to meet another client but agrees to represent Nas on the spot.
My first impression of The Night Of was “wow these opening credits look ripped from True Detective.” Indeed, HBO veteran Kevin Dunn appears as a police higherup in both The Night Of and the first season of True Detective. The Night Of will inevitably be compared to True Detective, as well as other whodunits like Serial, Making a Murderer, and The Jinx. But comparing The Night Of to those shows, or judging it only by its ending, would be a mistake.
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The first episode is impeccably paced and gorgeously shot. Cinematographer Robert Elswit (best known for frequently working with P.T. Anderson) is unquestionably the star of the first episode. Elswit does a fantastic job capturing the dreamlike quality of Nas’s night in the city, such as framing a conversation between Nas and Andrea against a purple-lighted bridge. Elswit does not try to hide the fact that he is filming on digital rather than on film; the scenes of Nas driving bring to mind the films of Michael Mann, particularly the taxi-related Collateral. Once the murder occurs, Elswit captures the bustle of the investigation; in one scene, a crime scene investigator practically bumps into the camera as he takes pictures of the victim.
The episode is written by well-regarded novelist and screenwriter Richard Price, who has a real ear for dialogue. Price does not hold the audience’s hand at all, as the police officers constantly use jargon and shorthand. While confusing the audience is not always a good thing, it works in The Night Of to underscore Nas’s bewilderment at the situation in which he has found himself. On the other hand, Andrea reminded me too much of the Manic Pixie Dream Girl archetype; even though she does not have bubbly personality of Kate Hudson from Almost Famous or Natalie Portman from Garden State, she does inexplicably inject life into a brooding young man. I hope that future episodes of The Night Of delve further into her character.
Even though I have only seen one episode, it is clear that one of the major themes this season is going to be the failings of the American justice system. The episode depicts the police’s mistakes, such as not realizing that Nas has been arrested for a traffic violation (before he becomes a murder suspect) and thus failing to breathalyze him; in another instance, Sergeant Klein (Ben Shenkman) breaks chain of custody by improperly giving the potential murder weapon to the wrong officer. Further, Box instantly is convinced of Nas’s guilt and thus tailors his interrogation towards obtaining a confession, ignoring any other potential subjects.
Ahmed (best known for his previous role in the 2014 film Nightcrawler) is fantastic as Nas. I could not believe it when I found out he was a thirty-three-year old, as Ahmed convincingly portrays a young, naive, student. Nas is not particularly loquacious, but Ahmed expertly manages to convey Nas’s thoughts without words.
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The role of attorney Jack Stone was originally going to be played by James Gandolfini before his death. Then, Robert De Niro was in line to portray Stone, but dropped out, replaced by Turturro. I am a big John Turturro fan, particularly in movies directed by the Coen Brothers (Turturro’s performance in Miller’s Crossing is masterful). But while the other cast members are understated, Turturro’s performance is bigger, reminding me (in a bad way) of late-period Pacino. I recognize that Turturro appeared only at the very end of the first episode, so I hope that his performance improves as the miniseries goes on.
I definitely intend to review The Night Of a few more times as the season goes on, particularly as the show focuses more on Nas’s legal defense. And if you get arrested this summer and intend to choose your attorney based on subway ads, do not hire Jack Stone.
Harry Graff is a litigation associate at a firm, but he spends days wishing that he was writing about film, television, literature, and pop culture instead of writing briefs. If there is a law-related movie, television show, book, or any other form of media that you would like Harry Graff to discuss, he can be reached at [email protected]. Be sure to follow Harry Graff on Twitter at @harrygraff19.