Unlike No Country for Old Men, which is a mediocre film that has been hyped up beyond all reason, We Own the Night is an excellent movie that has been a “moderate failure” at the box office and by-and-large passed over by the critics.
The cast – Robert Duvall, Mark Wahlberg and Joaquin Phoenix – turn in uniformly very good performances, and unlike the Cohen brother’s film, the script is tight and logical. As well as original.
The story revolves a father who is New York City police chief in pre-Giuliani New York (Duvall) and his two sons: the conventional son is a police captain (Wahlberg), and the free-spirited son (Phoenix), a night club owner mixed up with the Russian mob. Both sons are shown to have flaws as well as good points. The flaws of both characters are not what we are led to believe at first, but both sons are dealt with sympathetically and never one-dimensionally.
The story centers on Phoenix’s life. At first we are shown his hedonistic lifestyle at the nightclub. I for one though the movie would then folllow him down the road of excess followed by tragedy (such as Martin Scorcese’s excellent Casino). However it takes a completely different turn. The plot is at once unexpected (i.e. not formula) yet always internally consistent, and therefore suspense-filled.
An underrated but good film.
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