We Own The Night Review
by Sean Lynch
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There's nothing
else in the world that can get a movie off to a cracking start quite
like watching Eva Mendes getting hot and heavy with herself. Forget the
opening of Raiders of the Lost Ark - Eva is the way to lure punters in!
Even better is the fact that after Eva's "little performance" is over - there's still plenty left in the tank of We Own The Night without having to resort to sexy antics again.
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! 3.5 out
of 5 We Own The Night
Australian release: 28th February, 2008
Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg, Eva Mendes, Robert Duvall
Director: James Gray
Website: We Own The Night - Official Website
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