Review: We Own the Night

WE
OWN THE NIGHT
Directed by: James Gray
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix,
Mark Wahlberg, Eva Mendes…

PLOT: Corruption and crime hit an all-time high in the 1980’s
NYC, when Russian mafia infiltrated drugs into the club scene and
played target practice with the cops.
Bobby (Phoenix) is a big shot club manager who abandons his
police family roots to differentiate himself from his father Burt
(Robert Duvall) and brother Joseph (Wahlberg) as he moves up in the
club scene. When Russian kingpin declares war on the NYPD, it puts
him in a compromising and personal situation, which ultimately
forces him to face his inevitable destiny.

CRITIQUE: Having established his criminal credit with his
1994 film debut LITTLE ODESSA, writer/director James Gray reunites
with actors Mark Walberg and Joaquin Phoenix with whom he
collaborated in his last film, THE YARDS. In his highly anticipated
Cannes
premiere of WE OWN THE NIGHT,

Phoenix

plays Bobby Green, an ambitious club manager who has distanced
himself from his star-cop brother Joseph (Walberg) and father Burt
(Duvall) who is deputy of chief police. Also joining the cast is
sexy

Latina

actress Eva Mendes as Bobby’s party girlfriend Amada.

The film opens to very steamy scene with Bobby and Amada in a
private room of a nightclub. Flying
high at a glamorous disco, they engage in some sexy foreplay before
joining the other partiers downstairs in the nightclub. Initially
sex, drugs and disco elude to a Studio 54 like aura, but the script
quickly turns into an action-packed crime drama when the mafia gets
too close for comfort. A drug
bust elevates into a street war between the Russian mafia and the
NYPD, leaving Bobby with no other choice than to pursue a path,
which will honor his family. The film, which was titled after an
80’s NYPD anti-drug publicity slogan, resonates love, loss and
betrayal. These are the formulaic ingredients that make for a good
action, crime-drama.

The film is shot with a dark and grim lighting reflective of
the 80’s dirty and corrupt NYC streets.
It has some exciting chase and firing scenes which always
make for good entertainment. Overall,
it’s shot well, but the story is somewhat splattered and incohesive.
The strength of this film however, is its star power.
The talented cast is magnificent and their chemistry works
well. Duvall displays the
perfect tenderness expected of a caring, noble father while Wahlberg
and

Phoenix

are befittingly clashed as opposing brothers with differing goals
and attitudes. Mendes’
surprising transition into an ideal, glamorous disco queen is
effortless. Together, they all
play their respective parts with conviction and display a working
compatibility under the directorial vision of James Gray. Despite
its swinging, the plot is thrilling and wraps up quite nicely. I
found myself immersed and pleasantly entertained throughout the
film. — 7/10