We Own the Night
We Own the Night **1/2
Directed by James Gray
Written by James Gray
Starring:
Joaquin Phoenix as Bobby Green
Eva Mendes as Amada Juarez
Mark Wahlberg as Joseph Grusinsky
Robert Duvall as Burt Grusinsky
Oleg Taktarov as Pavel Lubyarsky
Alex Veadov as Vadim Nezhinski
117 Minutes(Rated R for strong violence, drug material, language, some sexual content and brief nudity. )
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What becomes the downfall of "We Own the Night" is that it never seems to be trying to find it's own voice. The movie is clearly trying to get some success after the massive hit of last year "The Departed,"-and this similarity can be found in the television commercials which show the title in almost the same font as the Scorsese film, as well as using one of the same actors, and even trying to have a mix of philosophy and violence. In the end, it just doesn't really work, and despite being well acted and even well directed at times, it ends up being quite a contrived story of cops and robbers, and even one that has one of the most unbelievably convenient screenplays. This isn't one of the worst movies of the year, but with the talent in front of the camera it should be more than just forgettable.
Actors Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg have done some fine work in the past, and they are almost the only things holding this film together, as two brothers on the opposite side of the law. Phoenix plays Bobby Green, a popular Brooklyn nightclub owner in 1988, who is approached by his brother Joseph Grusinsky, who is a very successful cop working under his Captain father Burt-played by Robert Duvall-to inform over some bad men that spend a lot of time in Bobby's club. Bobby refuses, saying that it'll hurt his chances to go into Manhattan for business, so Joseph goes the difficult route and ends up raiding the club one night. Because Bobby is using his mother's last name for business reasons, the men that Joseph ended up capturing do not realize that there is a family connection, and a hatred for cops on their part-Russian mafia men-end up with them shooting Joseph and leaving him in the hospital. And at this point Bobby begins to realize that there are loyalties far greater than business, and he begins to turn over a new leaf to make sure the rest of his family is not harmed.
The script, by director James Gray, is clearly trying to be two things. The first is an exciting cobs and robbers story, but it is far from exciting and at times is even quite dull, simply because we've seen this before and we've seen it done better. The best directed scene in the whole piece is the finale, where Gray actually has some tricks up his sleeves, and the final shoot-out is quite well done-and there is even a surprise or two for you there. The second thing he is trying to do, and this is the biggie, is be a character study of Bobby Green. It's even clearer that this is what the biggest aim was, but it fails on many levels because Bobby is just not believable. His transformation comes too easily-one minute he is one way and the next he is another. His change is more of a plot device than an actual switch, and so we could never care about what happens to him-or anyone else int he film-distancing the viewer from sympathy. A character played by Eva Mendes who I didn't mention in the plot summary-she is Bobby's girlfriend-is so underused and when she is on the screen she is just the nagging girlfriend in the middle of hell. A mention of her during the last minute is equally ridiculous. I lay most of the blame on Gray's script.
But there are some positives. Phoenix and Wahlberg are both quite good, and Duvall is shaping up after his rather scary turn in "Kicking and Screaming" from 2005. I said that parts of it were directed well-I just wish that Gray would have tried to distance himself from other movies of this nature that have been coming out-"The Departed" and even next month's "American Gangster," and just tried to make something a little more original. Instead "We Own the Night" is a sometimes tedious and repeated excursion, and pretty much instantly forgettable.
Now Playing At:
Area Theatres
Directed by James Gray
Written by James Gray
Starring:
Joaquin Phoenix as Bobby Green
Eva Mendes as Amada Juarez
Mark Wahlberg as Joseph Grusinsky
Robert Duvall as Burt Grusinsky
Oleg Taktarov as Pavel Lubyarsky
Alex Veadov as Vadim Nezhinski
117 Minutes(Rated R for strong violence, drug material, language, some sexual content and brief nudity. )
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
What becomes the downfall of "We Own the Night" is that it never seems to be trying to find it's own voice. The movie is clearly trying to get some success after the massive hit of last year "The Departed,"-and this similarity can be found in the television commercials which show the title in almost the same font as the Scorsese film, as well as using one of the same actors, and even trying to have a mix of philosophy and violence. In the end, it just doesn't really work, and despite being well acted and even well directed at times, it ends up being quite a contrived story of cops and robbers, and even one that has one of the most unbelievably convenient screenplays. This isn't one of the worst movies of the year, but with the talent in front of the camera it should be more than just forgettable.
Actors Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg have done some fine work in the past, and they are almost the only things holding this film together, as two brothers on the opposite side of the law. Phoenix plays Bobby Green, a popular Brooklyn nightclub owner in 1988, who is approached by his brother Joseph Grusinsky, who is a very successful cop working under his Captain father Burt-played by Robert Duvall-to inform over some bad men that spend a lot of time in Bobby's club. Bobby refuses, saying that it'll hurt his chances to go into Manhattan for business, so Joseph goes the difficult route and ends up raiding the club one night. Because Bobby is using his mother's last name for business reasons, the men that Joseph ended up capturing do not realize that there is a family connection, and a hatred for cops on their part-Russian mafia men-end up with them shooting Joseph and leaving him in the hospital. And at this point Bobby begins to realize that there are loyalties far greater than business, and he begins to turn over a new leaf to make sure the rest of his family is not harmed.
The script, by director James Gray, is clearly trying to be two things. The first is an exciting cobs and robbers story, but it is far from exciting and at times is even quite dull, simply because we've seen this before and we've seen it done better. The best directed scene in the whole piece is the finale, where Gray actually has some tricks up his sleeves, and the final shoot-out is quite well done-and there is even a surprise or two for you there. The second thing he is trying to do, and this is the biggie, is be a character study of Bobby Green. It's even clearer that this is what the biggest aim was, but it fails on many levels because Bobby is just not believable. His transformation comes too easily-one minute he is one way and the next he is another. His change is more of a plot device than an actual switch, and so we could never care about what happens to him-or anyone else int he film-distancing the viewer from sympathy. A character played by Eva Mendes who I didn't mention in the plot summary-she is Bobby's girlfriend-is so underused and when she is on the screen she is just the nagging girlfriend in the middle of hell. A mention of her during the last minute is equally ridiculous. I lay most of the blame on Gray's script.
But there are some positives. Phoenix and Wahlberg are both quite good, and Duvall is shaping up after his rather scary turn in "Kicking and Screaming" from 2005. I said that parts of it were directed well-I just wish that Gray would have tried to distance himself from other movies of this nature that have been coming out-"The Departed" and even next month's "American Gangster," and just tried to make something a little more original. Instead "We Own the Night" is a sometimes tedious and repeated excursion, and pretty much instantly forgettable.
Now Playing At:
Area Theatres
posted by Eric at
7:42 PM
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