We Own The Night - Review
Review by Jack Foley
WHEN writer-director James Gray first assembled Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg for urban thriller The Yards way back in 2000 he succeeded in producing a taut crime drama that was largely overlooked.
Seven years later, Gray has got them together again for another complex saga that sadly buckles under the weight of its own aspirations.
We Own The Night is set in New York in 1988 and stars Joaquin Phoenix as club manager Bobby Green who suddenly founds himself caught in the middle of a drugs war between the cops – led by his brother Joe (Mark Wahlberg) and father Burt (Robert Duvall) – and the Russian mafia, which is using his venue as a base.
Initially reluctant to pick a side, Bobby is moved into action when his family is attacked and vows to gain revenge. But his actions have dire consequences and threaten to alienate the woman in his life (Eva Mendes).
Gray’s film clearly takes its cues from the weighty crime sagas of the ’70s, referencing everything from The Godfather to The French Connection and beyond. But while it tackles issues of loyalty and betrayal and contains plenty of plot twists along the way, it somehow fails to engage as much as it should.
Part of the problem lies with Gray’s own screenplay, which is simply too clichéd for its own good and which short-changes a number of key characters in terms of emotional complexity.
Duvall, for instance, is lumbered with a role that’s simply too obvious, while Wahlberg isn’t afforded the type of screen-time his character deserves. Mendes, too, is given very little to do except pout as the sultry love interest.
The bulk of the heavy lifting therefore lies with Phoenix who remains a suitably conflicted hero but who seems to be following a pretty by-the-numbers path to redemption.
Gray does manage to enliven proceedings with a cracking car chase midway through and some suitably tense stand-offs. But as watchable as things remain, the film rarely gets out of second gear.
The end result is something of a disappointment given the talent involved and one which falls a long way short of the epic status it strains so hard to achieve. It should therefore be filed under worthy but dull.
Certificate: 15
Running time: 117mins
UK release date: December 14, 2007