The Bulls' Night Out

Written and directed by Lindley Farley, The Bulls’ Night Out is a fascinating relic of New York grit. A crime-drama shot in 1998 and released in 2000, its synopsis reads: “Four retired NYPD detectives take on the local drug lords when it seems like the working police [offer] little cooperation.” What we have here is a criminally underseen depiction of the city streets; a sobering portrait of “bored” men who feel alienated by their progressively meaningless positions in the social order – who take desperate, criminal measures to once again validate their self-image as cops. Whether you see it as pulpy pastiche or political realism, the film is an engaging one and worth a reflective viewing.

It feels good to watch a movie so rooted in a place and time. It’s also refreshing to watch a film with proper coverage, captured with proper cameras, featuring clearly well-versed performers. The film is drenched in the rich, contentious culture it’s depicting, and to hear the range of New York accents is always something to behold. Perhaps there are a few line-readings that aren’t quite cinema-worthy – and the scenario is quite stagey or televisual in its nature. But for the most part, this is a sturdy picture, working off a terrific script which manages to effectively juggle its moving parts. Also wonderful is the experience of watching a group of trained actors bouncing off one another through an inconspicuous wide shot... now this is the kind of thing that makes it feel like a relic!

One piece of advertising draws parallels from this film to The French Connection, Dog Day Afternoon and Annie Hall – the final of which feels the least relevant besides being another pointedly New-Yorker movie. However, you can undoubtedly feel the influence of Friedkin’s Best-Picture-Winner in its brutal, aptly unforgiving portrayal of complex police-politics. And it also holds the sweaty, self-contained sensibility of Lumet’s masterpiece. But in all honesty, a movie I was reminded of far more than those mentioned is another Sidney Lumet film – Q&A – made the same decade as the work in question. And for both good and ill, one is also reminded of David Mamet’s (yuck) Homicide, due not only to its content but its simple yet effective, on-location aesthetic. Additionally, let us note that this film was shot a mere year prior to the game-changing pilot of The Sopranos; in fact, one could easily confuse some of the handheld shots of the urban environment with the show’s iconic opening.

This reviewer would love to know a little bit more regarding the contexts under which this picture was produced. Was it a TV movie? Did it get a video release? Presumably it had a limited theatrical release in 2000; but why isn’t it better discussed? I ask these questions for I am not only intrigued but impressed by the production-values on display. We no longer get crime flicks which feel nearly as lived-in, authentic and textural as this. Despite its few limitations, The Bulls’ Night Out is a confrontational work which remains circling the mind of the viewer.