We Own the Night Reviews

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[Highly rated reviewer]

We Own The Night

I must review over 150 movies a year . Sometimes , when i am on a bad run , it can become a chore . But what makes sitting through another laugh less Will Ferrell movie a little more acceptable is when an unexpected gem comes along that blows you away. We own the night is one such gem.

Bobby Green has turned his back on the family business. The popular manager of El Caribe, the legendary Russian-owned nightclub in Brooklyn's Brighton Beach, he has changed his last name and concealed his connection to a long line of distinguished New York cops. For Bobby, every night is a party, as he greets friends and customers or dances with his beautiful Puerto Rican girlfriend, Amada, in a haze of cigarette smoke and disco music. But it's 1988, and New York City's drug trade is escalating. Bobby tries to keep a friendly distance from the Russian gangster who is operating out of the nightclub--a gangster who is being targeted by his brother, Joseph, an up-and-coming NYPD officer, and his father, Burt, the legendary deputy chief of police.

I'm not sure what was released the same week at We own the night but it must have been great for this to have slipped under the radar . I don't remember it getting a great deal of publicity or even a lot of reviewers column inches but it sure as hell should have!

Joaquin Phoenix is fantastic as Bobby Green .A man so stuck between a rock and a hard place that his life is in tatters . consumed by grief and suffering an intolerable amount of stress this emotional performance is of the highest quality . There are several scenes that Joaquin manages to get right into the skin of Bobby . Thanks to this talented actor , you feel his hate and anger , his frustration and his grief and that is something not many leading men can manage to do .

There are also good performances from Eva Mendes and the Legendary Robert Duvall.

Mark Wahlberg is always expressionless when acting and the same goes for his portrayal of Joseph . He's a little too one dimensional but because he picks his films well his inabilities as an actor seem to be forgotten .

Considering this film is two hours long it seemed to fly by and if anything could have benefited with maybe another half an hour .

There are two scenes especially that stand out for me. One is when Bobby confronts his brother after his is taken in when his club is raided and the other is the car chase scene when his father gets shot . Both are compelling as they are shocking.

The closest i can compare this film to is The Departed . The subject matter is very similar but i liked this better . It's grittier and has a sound track that will bring back many great memories if you were an eighties teenager like me.

If i had to criticise this film for anything it is that the final showdown with the Russians was a little bit of an anti climax considering how edgy the rest of the film was. .

This is soon forgotton when in a moving final scene the two brothers tell each other exactly how they feel .

A fitting climax to a brilliant film.

9 out of 10

[Highly rated reviewer]

Brilliant

very good though the only downside was the mumbling, at times Phoenix was very hard to make out - this may have had something to do with the way he was constantly slurping the face off his girlfriend and it obviously lead to some sort of lip paralysis ( the slurping bits are ok to fast forward through as you miss nothing & believe me they are really irritating after a while!!)

Excellent

What can I say what a film,if u like ur crime dramas u won't go wrong with this

Star of the night

This is an amazing film, the acting is oustanding, especially Joaquin Phoenix, the story is extremely well written and well worth a look, this is a movie i will rent agian and then no doubt probably buy - get this ASAP

[Highly rated reviewer]

NOT THAT GOOD

SORRY THIS WAS RUBBISH 'COULDNT WAIT FOR IT TO END 'THE FINAL SCENE WAS PATHETIC'. DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME

NRA

No Real Actors - this is a second rate film which is not aided by the second rate cast.

With a weak story line that barely arouses interest and a quality of directing that goes down the path of so many B grade movies before it.

pure simple rubbish

worst film ive seen in a while

[Highly rated reviewer]

sweet jesus...

oh so boring and oh so pointless

a HUGE incoherent mess of clichés and horrific dialogue.

cast was random and the casting director should be shot for ever thinkin that phoenix and mendes could make a convincing couple. NO convincing chemistry WHATSOEVER.

ANYONE can stage shag.

cannot stand eva medes. and a wasted talent from joaquin who could so do better...

in the end i just wanted EVERYONE to die so i could get out of there!!!

waste of a cinema ticket and a waste of your rental time if you get this..

AVOID AVOID AVOID

very poor

i wasn't surprised to see that phoenix and wahlberg were executive producers for this pile of dross - serious mutual ego massage going on in this movie. robert duvall reduced to just nodding in approval throughout. what a waste of talent here!

mostly dull except for well shot car chase scene. and please tell me what was that final scene in the cornfield all about?

can't believe another reviewer compared this to the departed. they are in different leagues of film-making! this is nowhere near scorcese's fine piece.

AN incoherent mess

Oh dear. This film couldn't make its mind up from the start; stuck between a poor man's Goodfells and The Godfather and any other number of superior thrillers. A crime to see the likes of Robert Duval reduced to a shambling caricature.