[MOVIE] We Own the Night

[Emperor]

We Own the Night (Sony)

Starring Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg, Robert Duvall, Eva Mendes, Alex Veadov

Written and directed by James Gray (The Yards, Little Odessa)

Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller

Rated R

Tagline: "Two brothers on opposite sides of the law. Beyond their differences lies loyalty."

 

Plot Summary: In 1988 Brooklyn, two brothers find themselves on opposite sides of the law. (Which you already know from the tagline above.) Bobby Green (Joaquin Phoenix) is a manager at a popular Russian-owned nightclub who finds himself at odd with his police officer brother Joseph (Mark Wahlberg) who is trying to live up to his chief-of-police father (Robert Duvall) by taking down the Russian gangsters who hang out at the club.

 

Analysis:

 

It's been almost seven years to the date (off by a week) since James Gray's last movie The Yards was given a haphazard release by Miramax, never even seeing a proper release. Back then, the film's stars Mark Wahlberg and Joaquin Phoenix didn't quite have the box office clout that they do now, though a few months later, Phoenix would be nominated for a supporting Oscar for Ridley Scott's Gladiator. In the seven years since, he received his first Oscar nomination as a lead for 2005's Walk the Line, while former Funky Bunch leader Mark Wahlberg was nominated just last year for playing a cop in Martin Scorsese's The Departed. After all that time, James Gray has reunited with the two actors for a very different type of crime drama with Wahlberg once again playing a police officer and Phoenix taking more of the lead role as his brother who's involved with the Russian crime scene. The movie was made independently by 2929 Films and picked up by Sony at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, though it hasn't garnered nearly as much critical backing as some of the other movies shown there like Todd Haynes' I'm Not There or the Coen Brothers' No Country for Old Men, but it's also a much more commercial film with a strong cast including the legendary Robert Duvall and Eva Mendes, along with the two stars. After the success of Martin Scorsese's The Departed, it's much easier to market a movie like this although obviously, Gray doesn't have the name or clout of a Martin Scorsese (or a Ridley Scott for that matter) at getting people into theatres. Still, this movie should be a strong draw for guys and despite its R-rating, it's likely to have more appeal among the younger urban crowd than something like Tony Gilroy's Michael Clayton, which will probably be shooting for more of a white collar upper class type of crowd.

 

Why I Should See It: This is one of the best police dramas in recent memory. Some say better than "The Departed".

Why Not: Outside of New York City, that title won't be much of a draw.

Projections: $11 to 13 million opening weekend on its way to $32 million.

 

[Cadsuane]

I want to see this. The trailers have looked pretty good, and I like Mark and Joaquin. If I get around to seeing it in the theaters, I'll post a review.