Bobby Green (Joaquin Phoenix) is having the time of his life running a Russian mob backed nightclub in late 1980s New York, lording it up with girlfriend Amanda (Eva Mendes) and enjoying just enough drugs and alcohol to enable him to get out of bed in the morning.
But Bobby has a secret. He is actually the son of prominent Deputy Police Chief Bert Grusinsky (Robert Duvall) and brother of Captain Joseph Grusinsky (Mark Wahlberg).
Straying from the family business has not put him in the firing line... so far. But as cops and felons log heads in a deadly street war, Bobby knows he must pick a side - law or lawlessness - once and for all.
They say:
The Times: "Gray clearly looks up to the likes of Scorsese and Friedkin, but he lacks their meticulous approach."
Rolling Stone: "Defiantly, refreshingly unhip."
Empire: "This just can’t compete in an arena with the likes of The Departed."
We say:
We Own the Night might be marketed as a crime thriller - it certainly contains a lot of the genre staples such as violence, drug running, loyalty and betrayal - but it is actually about family.
What makes the film special is director/ writer James Gray. Having previously worked the New York streets in sedate drama The Yards (2000), Gray knows his territory like a bear knows honey. If someone told you it was a true story, you would believe them - every shot feels honest and authentic.
If Martin Scorsese’s The Departed took place in a vaguely silly world of larger than life gangsters and needless sexual undercurrent, this is the antithesis. Not depressing, yet no room for Jack Nicholson waving a dildo either.
Some of Gray's stand out sequences, namely the violent aftermath of Bobby's visit to the drug factory and an aggressively primitive car chase, rank alongside Paul Greengrass and Ridley Scott for sheer brilliance of composition.
Comparing this relatively green filmmaker to Ridley Scott is appropriate as We Own the Night is the film that American Gangster should have been. It is more moving, more exciting, better written and better acted - even Denzel Washington's strident performance would have no place here.
People communicate rationally with Gray at the helm. He not only understands how those in his world talk, but also how we all talk: warily and with much left unsaid.
If the two young male leads cannot match the authority of Robert Duvall, they never shout or stomp to make an impression. Wahlberg is wooden, but maturing as an actor while Joaquin Phoenix makes for an awkward, yet persuasive presence.
Lending support is the striking Eva Mendes. For the opening act she is covered in make up and dressed to stir, though it is during the tougher moments that her beauty really shines through. Her character grows and arcs alongside Phoenix's in a believable, surprising way.
Their deep relationship is sexy. Gray puts a sensational foreplay scene up front that may lead you to believe Mendes is playing a nightclub slut or stripper. But this is just a couple in love having exciting, realistic sex. Contrary to what many similar films might say, not every wide boy screws a hooker.
Weak points stem from a director still learning his craft more than anything else. If this is supposed to be the late eighties, most of the musical cues are nearly a decade too early and Gray, with all his masterstrokes during the visceral action, needs to get more interested in the talky moments too.
These are flimsy jabs though. We Own the Night is a heavyweight piece that, like its impressive cast, competently and quietly does the business.
CAST
Eva Mendes
Joaquin Phoenix
Mark Wahlberg
Robert Duvall
DIRECTOR
James Gray
TIME
117 mins
POSTED...
Tue 18 Dec 2007 at 7:44am
