|
Somewhere between American Gangster
and The Departed,
We Own
The Night
(it's not a Zombie movie, although the title certainly deceived me!)
delivers some fine performances (from the unlikely star &
producer
team of Joaquin Phoenix
& Mark Wahlberg) - and a truckload of nerve
wracking tension.
Director
James Gray delivers a simple, yet effective story about two brothers at
the opposite ends of the law. First up is brother Joseph
(Wahlberg), as a by-the-book daddies boy who has followed his fathers
footsteps all the way to the NYPD and to the title of Captain who is
about to take on the task of one of the biggest drug busts of the
1980's.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the tracks, is black sheep
Bobby Grusinsky (Joaquin Phoenix), manager of one of the hottest night
clubs in the Bronx which is also (unknowingly to Bobby) the base of
operations of one of New Yorks most influential drug smugglers "Vadim".
Their
two worlds soon meet when the boys father (Robert
Duvall) requests that Bobby go undercover and infiltrate Vadim's
criminal Russian underworld. But, of course, things don't go a smoothly
as planned.
Surprisingly Night
performed pretty poorly in the US (especially when you consider how
successful American Gangster
turned out to be), which is a real shame, because there's a lot on
offer here.
The conflicted duo of Phoenix & Wahlberg works well,
Mendes & Phoenix
share an oddly touching chemistry amidst the rather dark and gritty
backdrop, while Duvall breezes through as he so often does.
Having said that - let's just hope that we're not overrun with these
1970-1980s corrupt cop flicks. It's a good genre, but a genre that may
easily be ruined if Hollywood over saturates the market with
them.
The
real appeal, however, are the simplistic tensions. There are two or
three extremely intense scenes (Bobby's first undercover job and the
amazing car chase sequence which still manages to evoke empathy while
scaring the hell out of you are the real standouts) which will have you
on the edge of your seat, not knowing how these dastardly underworld
figures will react to situations.
Much like The
Sopranos, it the an odd sense of random
impending doom which gets your guts all twisted. One wrong move, and
you're dead. We Own The
Nights'
climax works well because of this, and proves once again that thrills
works best when you can't see the danger, but you know the danger is
near.
Ultimately, We Own The
Night is another fantastic addition to the old-fashioned
cop film vaults, with enough Scorsese-like drama and retro crime
thrills to give punters enough bang for their buck.
Extra points for the killer 80s soundtrack too - you simply can't beat
hearing Blondie blaring through the theatre sound system!
EXTRAS
Nothing included on the preview disc we
recieved - but rest assured - there will be more than a few deleted
scenes on offer.
Conclusion:
Movie 80% Extras: N/A
|
