We Own The Night

This is a relentlessly bleak and stylish film from James Gray, a director who's suffered from too much hype, poor box office and lukewarm reviews. After Two Lovers his actor collaborator Joaquin Phoenix has supposedly retired from acting to pursue a rap career because of his disappointment in how the Gray films have been received by both the public and the press. 


The film is very well made, with a Scorcese inspired opening act of slow pans of nightclubs, popular music, slow motion and macho culture, reminiscent of Goodfellas.  This then delves into The Departed territory with scenes involving lots of tough talking cops, (even Mark Wahlberg, a cop in The Departed features) and that staple from the great director, a catholic church. Joaquin Phoenix and Wahlberg make for impressive leads, and Gray's direction comes into his own in a spectacular car chase. The film builds nicely, with lots of tension, but its building, ultimately, to nothing. With the weight the film carries for the duration, I expected more from the finish, a reason other than revenge and a brother's love for the man's plight. Whatever else is said about We Own The Night, it'll be the car chase that'll be remembered.