We Own the Night

Posted by Brian C. Gibson (brian@filmschoolrejects.com) on October 12, 2007

At first glance most people, including myself, would compare this to last year’s best picture The Departed. On the surface it appears to be a story about two brothers on each side of the law, each digging deeper and deeper until reaching a climactic ending. While this may appear to be a synopsis of the film, you have hardly scratched the surface.

Bobby Green (Joaquin Phoenix) climbed from bartender to club manager in one of hottest night clubs in New York. Like any club in the 80’s, drugs exchanged hands just as freely as drinks. The club is owned by a Russian family, known to deal in furs and rumored to deal in drugs. One thing that the Russians do not know, is that Bobby’s real last name is Grusinski. Burt Grusinsky (Robert Duvall), the chief of police, and Joseph Gusinsky (Mark Wahlberg), a newly promoted lieutenant, are Bobby’s father and brother. When Joseph draws attention to himself by exposing the Russians in a flashy sting operation, the Russian mafia puts an unsuccessful hit on him. Badly wounded but not dead, Joseph lies in the hospital while Bobby can’t help but think that he could have done something to have stopped this from happening.

Mark Wahlberg and Joaquin Phoenix and reunited again by director James Gray. Gray, a proud New Yorker, has concerned himself with another film about the gritty side of the city. As i mentioned earlier, this might seem like just another undercover crime drama that you might find yourself comparing to The Departed on first glance. We Own the Night takes a different approach than last year’s best picture. While The Departed screamed blockbuster with its amazing cast and big name director, it mostly aimed to entertain and put you on the edge of your seat. Not to say that entertainment or suspense is a bad thing, but We Own the Night does it in a completely different manner.

We Own the Night plays to our emotions with several themes than many people in an audience could relate to. The relationships of brother to brother, father to son, husband to wife or boyfriend to girlfriend were all on display to make this film hit each of us just a bit harder. The film isn’t so much about the undercover side of crime as it was about the difference between right and wrong. If you, your family and everything that you love were to be threatened, what would or could you do? The film shouts several questions and does not fail in delivering a suspense filled experience that is sure to entertain, but in its own way. The director used several things to his advantage and created characters and situations that feel as uncomfortable as they look on screen.

Gray’s use of sound in this film was superb. The shotgun ringing of Bobby Green’s ears echoed through the theater, to make the audience feel just as confused and disoriented as his character. The pounding cadence of windshield wipers mimicked the sound of what you could imagine Bobby’s heart would sound like, during one of the most suspense filled parts of the film. Gray also made a great choice in making Phoenix his lead, choosing the much stronger actor over Wahlberg. Phoenix was able to carry the film and his character’s emotions all throughout the film. I expect that Phoenix could have lined himself for another chance at an Oscar with We Own the Night.

The Upside: A fantastic performance from Joaquin Phoenix.

The Downside: A genre bender, may appear to be something that it is not.

On the Side: Director James Gray refused to shoot the film in Toronto where it would have been much cheaper. This is one of the reasons why it took so long to make the movie.

Read more articles by Brian C. Gibson