Review of We Own the Night (2007) by Harry W — 02 Jan 2014

We Own The Night sounded great on the surface as it teamed up the pair of talented actors Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Whalberg for a crime story. Unfortunately, the surface value was the only real offer that proved valuable all that much in We Own the Night.

The main purpose I watched We Own The Night turned out to be at half mass, since the screen is dominated by Joaquin Phoenix but uses little Mark Whalberg. While Joaquin Phoenix is surely a talented actor, it sounded better to have him teamed up with Mark Whalberg who unfortunately had too little screen time together to constitute the team effort I was hoping for.

And aside from that, We Own the Night was boring. It had a somewhat similar premise to the 2013 Dwayne Johnson film Snitch, but I had higher standards for it due to its talented cast. Snitch did more with one actor leading the story than We Own the Night did with two Academy Award nominated actors at top billing.

We Own the Night tries to be a crime drama dealing with complicated family relationships and the sense of duty Robert "Bobby" Green feels after his brother Captain Joseph "Joe" Grusinsky becomes wounded in the police force, yet it becomes indulgently focused on the selfish antics of Bobby, and director James Gray simply fails to make a balance between Bobby and Joe, or Bobby and anything else. It's all a story about Bobby, and since it tries to be more instead of focusing on just one or two it doesn't come out shining.

We Own the Night tries to focus on one character while bringing others in for supporting elements, but it seems to emphasise them to be more key to the story than they actually are so it's all rather confusing, and not that entertaining in the process, especially considering the story is predictable and safe with little action or moments that suggest that it's even trying to be more clever than it is.

And the character Amada Juarez isn't key to the storyline. The only perk supplied by her is when Bobby removes her breasts from her shirt so that he can suckle on one of them, and so it merely seems like We Own the Night is more interested in using Eva Mendes' sex appeal than whatever skills she may have as an actress. Seriously, all I'll remember from Eva Mendes being in We Own the Night is the image of Joaquin Phoenix giving her a nip-lick.

But I will say that the feel of the film is all there. While it's themes aren't explored well, certain viewers will be able to feel the brotherhood within the story from the chemistry between Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Whalberg, and the complex relationship shared with their onscreen father who benefits from a fine supporting performance from Robert Duvall who still to this day has never lost an inch of his charisma as an actor.

And I will say that Joaquin Phoenix made a great lead. He had a real grip on the drama which made it believable and his facial gestures and physicality were ideal for a character of his stature, and since he's a very talented actor it's just great to see him working in crime drama territory for once since he has such a skill for characterisation. He really is a great lead in We Own the Night.

And Mark Whalberg doesn't have to do too much in We Own the Night because his natural talent made him a great addition to the cast and he delivers a strong performance, even though he could have used more screen time to impress viewers. Still, he's an admirable presence.

All in all We Own the Night could have been a lot more, but under James Gray's direction it ended up being a lot less.