We Own the Night

Dammit! I forgot my own lesson! Never go to Arclight Cinemas when there is a festival going on...unless of course you are part of the festival. I went out to see Ben Affleck's directorial debut, "Gone Baby Gone," but it was sold out! Having spent an obscene amount of time trying to find a parking space and with no other plans for the evening, I decided that I needed to see something instead of just going home. I ended up seeing "We Own The Night" which stars Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Whalberg, and Robert Duvall. All the other movies I thought I might see had already started.

"We Own The Night" was written and directed by James Gray, and this is the first movie of his that I have seen. He has directed a couple of other movies, including "The Yards" and "Little Odessa," and he seems more drawn to character driven movies. These kinds of movies threaten to be a dying breed in cinema today. Nice to see there are some that are still keeping up with it.

From the outside, this looks like another Cain and Abel story with two brothers on opposite sides of the law. There is Joseph Grusinsky (Mark Whalberg) who is an officer of the New York police department who, as the movie begins, is getting a promotion. He is clearly following in his father's (Robert Duvall) footsteps, as he is also a cop. Then you have Bobby Green (Joaquin Phoenix) who is also a Grusinsky, but keeps his mother's maiden name for his own business ventures. He runs a nightclub that is run by the Russian mafia, and he revels in the partying and drugs and come along with it. He also has a girlfriend (Eva Mendes, yeow!) who dotes on him endlessly.

So the movie starts off as a story where it looks like one of the brothers is going to kill the other one. I think that's what kept me from rushing out to see the movie. From what I had seen from advertisements, it looked like a story that I seen many times before. I was afraid that it was going to be "Backdraft" but with cops. But as the movie continues on, it suddenly takes a number of left turns that breaks through all the clichés that stand in its way. Just when you think you know where the story is going, it goes in another direction and keeps you guessing as to what will happen next.

Obviously, James Gray has seen a lot of movies like this, and he is seriously intent on subverting the expectations of the audience. Not to give anything away, but there is a serious event that occurs early on in the movie. Preceding that, Joseph leads a narcotics raid on Bobby's nightclub which completely infuriates and embarrasses Bobby. They end up getting into a physical confrontation the next day and go their separate ways. But then that serious event happens, and it changes everything and everybody. But the person it ends up changing most is Bobby. He ends up putting his life on the line to right the wrongs that have been inflicted upon his family, and soon his job as a nightclub manager becomes irrelevant. He soon moves completely over to the other side of the law. It's like that seen where Hugo Weaving waves that sword in front of Viggo Mortensen's face in "The Lord Of The Rings" and says:

"Become who you were born to be!"
This is a purely character driven movie that treads very familiar waters of many other movies that like this. But since it is so character driven, it keeps it fresh and involving. A lot of this is due not just to the writing and direction, but to the acting. Joaquin Phoenix has long since escaped the shadow of his famous brother River (he is still missed), and he keeps giving one great performance after another. From "Gladiator" and "Walk The Line" to this, he opens himself up completely on an emotional level which makes him all the more brave. He makes you sympathize with a character that starts off as selfish junkie who is only interested in his own wants and needs. As the movie goes on, he manages to convince you thoroughly of his desire to do good, and to right the wrongs of his sins.

Mark Whalberg has also done great work for years now. He is a guy who has been on both sides of the law, and has managed to come out of the negative elements in one piece. This is a guy who brings his life experience to each role that he plays, and he makes you almost completely forget that he was Marky Mark and rocking out with the funky bunch. These days, he is the go to guy for these kinds of roles. You never doubt his believability as either a good or bad guy.

Then there is Robert Duvall, and he is another in a long line of actors who has done so much work over many years, and is now an actor who cannot seem to do any wrong. He never gives us any less than the best of what he has got. There is a moment in the movie where he reacts to an event that has befallen to one of his sons. His reaction to it is not one that is easily faked. It looks from a distance like what he does is easy to do, but it is not easy to make believable. You'll know the moment when it comes up.

This movie has a number of very intense moments as Joaquin's character goes deep into undercover work and puts his life on the line without thinking. There are action sequences near the end that are very suspenseful and keep you on edge. There is also a car chase that, while it may not rank among the best ever, is very well done and expertly staged.

"We Own The Night" is not quite a great movie, as it does tread familiar ground without adding much freshness to it. But it is very well-conceived and it is a movie that cannot necessarily put into any given corner. This movie keeps you on your toes, and it is never what you think it is or what it will be. You could certainly do worse this weekend at the movies!

***1/2 out of ****