Hey, everyone. ”Moriarty” here. Seriously haven’t heard a word about this until we got these three reviews in the inbox within about fifteen hours. All three from untested sources. All three fairly glowing. So either James Gray (THE YARDS, LITTLE ODESSA) has made a great film this time out, or some publicists decided that it was time to start the buzz and wanted to use our front page. Either way, the real value here is that at least I have an idea of what sort of film it is now, and I’ve liked things about both of Gray’s earlier films, so I’m certainly willing to give this one a try. Check out these reviews:
Hey Harry, I went to see a screening tonight of We Own the Night with Joaquin Phoenix, Eva Mendez and Robert Duvall. While watching the movie, something about the style- the grittiness or suspense- reminded me of The Yards. So I went home and looked it up, and sure enough, it’s the same writer and director, James Gray. I didn't actually like The Yards and it’s been too long so I don’t even remember why except that I really wasn’t into the story. Anyway, I didn’t know anything about We Own the Night before going into it and I only went because I’m a big fan of Phoenix and Wahlberg. At first, I thought I was going to spend the entire movie staring at my watch. Luckily, after a slow start, the story, the characters and the action really picked up. The movie starts off with a somewhat graphic sex scene (with some nudity) between Bobby Green, played by Joaquin, and his girlfriend, whose name sounded like “Amara” but that could be wrong, played by Eva Mendes. I’ve definitely seen worse, but it was enough that I felt rather uncomfortable sitting just inches away from my mom who later couldn’t resist commenting that if anyone was curious about J.P’s skills in the bedroom, they simply needed to watch this movie to find out. Bobby is quickly called out into the loud, raucous club where women are stripping in one corner and drug deals are going down in another. He’s really not a likeable character, not at first. He’s a sleazy, drug sniffing, alcohol guzzling, morally ambiguous kind of guy who openly mocks his police chief father, played by Robert Duvall and police Lt. brother played by Wahlberg. We get to meet the brother and dad in an early scene involving some sort of celebration or tribute to the brother (again, it was slow at first so I wasn’t paying as close attention). It’s immediately apparent that there’s quite a bit of tension between Bobby and his dad and brother. They’re angry not only because he has chosen to run a night club and indulge in this hedonistic lifestyle rather than become a cop, but that he seems to think so little of them that he has started using his mother’s maiden name rather than Grusinsky. They asks for his help to catch a big time scary Russian dealer named Neshinski working out of the nightclub and when Bobby refuses, they raid the club soon after. The cops can’t make anything stick on the Neshinski character, but they get Bobby for possession, and tension between Bobby and his dad and brother escalates. In retaliation for the attempted bust, Neshinski shoots Wahlberg’s character in the head, sending him to the hospital for four months. One of the greatest acting moments from Joaquin wasn’t a loud one; it wasn’t an overly emotional one (as he tends to do). Instead, it involved a conversation between him and Neshinski. At the time, Bobby was really out of it and depressed because his brother was almost killed, and Neshinski, not knowing who Bobby's family is, asks for his help on a big time drug deal. He then goes on to brag about almost killing that cop involved in the night club raid, and tells Bobby that they’re going to get that cop’s father as well. Phoenix’s acting was just great. You could see the suppressed rage in his eyes. You could see that he wanted nothing more than to beat the shit out of this guy for even trying to hurt his family. You could see that he was a second away from risking his own life in an act of revenge, but he stayed in control, he did nothing, and decided to wait for a better moment. The rest of the movie is about Bobby’s transformation to cop, his involvement with the police trying to take down the Russian drug ring, and the sacrifices he must make to protect his family. It’s a surprisingly good film, surprising for me because I would normally avoid movies like this altogether. It’s a strong character drama as well as a solid suspense and action film. There’s one scene in which Bobby goes into the heart of the Russian drug operation, with only a tiny wire and a code word in case he is made. He’s got a mask on so he doesn’t O.D. on the drugs in the air, and with the mask on, it’s obvious that’s his breathing isn’t normal. When Neshinski asks him why he’s breathing so hard and then flips out and begins tearing everything in Bobby’s pockets apart, I was freaking out for him. When Neshinski goes through his possessions, and asks why he needs both a lighter (where the wire is hidden) and matches, you know he’s totally fracked. The big surprise for me, and just about everyone else in the “discussion group” after the movie, was Eva Mendes. If you’re like me, you’ve probably only seen her in Hitch, which couldn’t have been a more bland romantic comedy. I thought she was going to sort of drown in the company of these far superior actors, but that wasn’t the case at all. In fact, she was one of my favorite aspects of this film. Her role is decent, but not huge. Her character gets some development, but not a lot. However, with the little she is given, she was the most convincing actor in the entire movie. I actually felt like her character was a real person and forgot that Eva Mendes, the actor, even existed. What else is there to say? Walberg, although not as enjoyable as he was in The Departed, was also good. Duvall, as usual, gave a solid performance of a man who loved both his sons equally, even when one was a source of so much pride while the other was the cause of so much pain. Some of the effects weren’t great, but they told us that we were the first audience to see it and that they were still being finished. Overall, most of the audience seemed to really enjoy the film. I certainly did. My only issue was Joaquin Phoenix’s transformation to police officer. I’m normally a fan, but, here, it wasn’t entirely convincing. He came across as really short and awkward, with his shoulders always hunched over. In some movies it works, but his character was supposed to be this strong confident f--- off sort of personality and I just wanted to shake him and say “For God’s sake, man, push your shoulders back! Stand up straight! Acting’s not just in the face!” Ok, I hope this helps. loonigrrl
Hey Harry, Just got back from a test screening of "We Own the Night", a crime drama starring Joaquin Phoenix, Robert Duvall, and Mark Wahlberg. I didn't know anything about it. Didn't care. Kinda got dragged into it, and all I gotta say now is... This movie is friggin good. Good in the way movies used to be, back in the 70's when you had to swallow your medicine without the artificial flavoring, when genre movies had "edge." Though I didn't know anything about it going in, the plot was pretty predictable in one sense. We started with the Campbellian "hero's refusal of the call" (ie, Braveheart's, "I don't wanna fight, I just wanna raise crops and fuck your daughter") which means, guess what folks, a few scenes later, sumpthin's gonna happen that's gonna make him real mad (don't think I just gave it away, cause its not exactly like Braveheart). It's about a guy (Phoenix) who lives a life of vice, but he's got a family of cops (Wahlberg and Duvall), and those cops want him to do some cop shit. Shit happens. He gets convinced to do it. Even worse shit happens. So right away you get the formula for this movie. What knocks your socks off, however, is HOW that formula works itself out. You know what's gonna happen, but, where it's gonna happen, when, and to whom, you just don't see it coming. So now I gotta talk about the actors. I "kinda" liked Joaquin Phoenix before. I thought his whiny villain in Gladiator was more annoying than evil (a feeling which was only exasperated by throwing him in the ring with the the greatest warrior ever and trying to convince me he somehow had the upper hand)...anyways, he was good in Signs but mostly just for his "move out of the way children" scene when he's watching the alien news footage. I did think Walk the Line was a giant leap, but in my narrow-minded way, figured that would be his crowning achievement. His "Erin Brochovich", so to speak. Nope. Walk the Line was a mere stepping stone for Joaquin. Cause in this movie, he is... (I pause here, stare at the screen and try to conjure adjectives of praise, here's a few ...) intense, astounding, intelligent, chameleon-like (okay, shitty adjective, but you get it), charismatic, and inspired. He creates a classic character here. Not quite Dirty Harry classic, but maybe, one day, Popeye Doyle classic. Mark Wahlberg does the Departed again. Whatever you thought of him there, you'll think of him here. Me personally, while I fear seeing him get typecast, I enjoy watching this persona right now, and think it's great so long as he changes it up soon. Robert Duvall is still Robert Duvall. A man who deserves to have been in the Godfather. (It's kinda like watching Pacino these days. You get what you expect, but what you take for granted from him would be a career peak for most others.) Eva Mendes' performance was so good it almost caught up with her hotness for my attention, which was saying something cause she was in some skimpy outfits and I... I, uh... uhm... yeah, moving on. I really want to mention the suspense, too. They did a terrific job building you up to things. I'm a young guy, but I feel like an old guy when I say, "movies today just don't get suspense." When jump scares and action scenes just burst out of nowhere, I start to understand what a woman feels like when a guy just wants to stick it in. No petting, no kissing, just BAM. Take it, bitch. That's not sexy, and in this case, that's not scary. It's just irritating. So it was great to see this movie doing it right. When the jeapardy started to pile on midway through the movie they led me into it nice and gently, built up the mood, nibbled on my ear a little, started to get my heart pumping. Suddenly, things got worse, and my heart was pounding, and once they finally did stick it in, I almost jumped out of my seat, not because I was startled, it wasn't a jump scare, it was just a damn friggin exciting moment. That's the "cinematic orgasm" I wish I could get more of these days. Michael Corleone walking out of the bathroom with a gun...the train goin by overhead...and you're pissing your pants cause he won't just go ahead and shoot the guy! I had a few quibbles. The pacing has to be cut down. The character arc at the end stretched credibility a little too far. I would have preferred something more ambiguous. Maybe that'll happen. This is the first cut shown to any test audience and I don't think it comes out for a while. So they have time... Of course, that also means, time to fuck this up. Time to have the test audience say they want to see more of Eva in her skimpy outfits and focus the storyline around that. Time to cut the foreplay and make it an hour and a half shorter. Time to tone down the violence. I hope not. Cause what I saw tonight was pretty damned good. And next year's Oscars are probably going to agree with me. (Then again, I felt that way after the test screening I saw of Dreamgirls, so ya never know). If you use this, go ahead and call me Cuckoo's Indian.
Hey Harry, Last night I got to catch a screening in Pasadena of a film called “We Own the Night.” I hadn’t heard one thing about the film until I got handed some passes last Wednesday. I thought it was strange that I’ve heard nothing because the movie not only has Joaquin Phoenix but Mark Wahlberg and Eva Mendes as well. I got to the screening pretty early and was met with a large line. They checked us in and warned people about bringing cell phones in but ended up not even checking them as you entered the theater. This made my girlfriend really angry because she has to make a useless trip to the car. Anyways, I had no idea what to expect from the film because I hadn’t seen any advertisements for the film. Now that I’ve seen the film, I have to say that for some reason I can’t get the film out of my head. I at first wasn’t going to write a review but I keep remembering all these different scenes in my head. This movie was a no holds barred mafia flick in the likes of Casino and The Goodfellas. There is also an undeniable Departed-esque vibe to the film but I would have to say that the movie is a lot like Clint Eastwood’s Mystic River in the way that in entangles you in the story both emotionally and psychologically. Now on to the biggest question, what’s the film about? IMDB describes the film as “A New York nightclub manager tries to save his brother and father from Russian mafia hit men.” I would have to say that their description is a short and simple interpretation of what the film is about. Bobby Green (Joaquin Phoenix) is club manager who has ties with the Russian mafia; they are the hand that feeds him. His brother Joseph (Mark Walberg) is one of the best and brightest of the NYPD and he is planning a major raid on the club that Bobby works out so he can catch Vadim Nezhinski (played by unknown actor Alex Veadov) one of the members of the Russian mafia who is organizing a major drug ring. The hit doesn’t go exactly as planned but it does bring Joseph face to face with Vadim, Joseph is unable to arrest him because he has caught Vadim, clean handed. On the other hand Vadim now knows the name and face of the police officer out to get him. This begins the chain of events which leads to chain of events that occur which cause Bobby to infiltrate the Russian’s underground drug business but while doing so finds out that they plan on killing not only his brother but his father as well. What follows is a rollercoaster of a film that truly doesn’t let you breathe until the credits roll. I thought the acting in the film was pretty top-notch. I hadn’t seen a film which Joaquin Phoenix or Eva Mendes for that matter play such risqué roles. To know how risqué just know that film opens up with a pretty raunchy sex scene with the two. How far does it go? Just know that those in the audience know Eva Mendes on a lot more personal level now that we’ve seen the film. Though I particularly enjoyed the scene because it immediately got me in the film, I’m scared that some people will be turned off by it. Hopefully, they keep it in but it will be understandable if they cut in. Another thing which I didn’t expect from the film was just how much action was going to be in the film. The movie features a gun-battle with a dozen or so characters that makes any gun battle from The Departed or last summer’s Miami Vice look like it was made for the Disney Channel No joke, I’m talking about character’s face getting blown to pieces and those pieces landing on Joaquin Phoenix’s face. It was terrifically disgusting! Another sequence that blew my mind was a car chase featured in the movie. In my opinion it was absolutely terrifying and the only thing I can compare to is the single shot chase scene in Children of Men. I rarely feel like I’m going to have a panic attack in a film but this was one of those instances where I felt like I was going to. The way it was film had many in the audience squirming in their seats because you feel as if the cars are actually going to hit you. As if the sequence wasn’t hectic enough, we were told before the screening that they were going to add rain to the whole sequence. All in all I would have to say I loved the film and can’t wait to see it again and own it on DVD. I recommend seeing this film if you love gangster and mafia flicks or if you just want to have a good time in a movie theater. That’s something which the majority of movies out can’t do these days. Who knows when the film will even come out, I just checked on IMDB and as of right now it doesn’t even have a distributor. It’s a shame! If you use this please call me DROP DEAD FREDDY!
