We Own the Night (2007)

A New York City nightclub manager tries to save his brother and father from Russian Mafia hitmen.

Director:

James Gray

Writer:

James Gray

Stars:

Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg, Eva Mendes

1 win & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Joaquin Phoenix	...	Bobby Green
Eva Mendes	...	Amada Juarez
Danny Hoch	...	Jumbo Falsetti
Alex Veadov	...	Vadim Nezhinski
Oleg Taktarov	...	Pavel Lubyarsky
Dominic Colón	...	Freddie (as Dominic Colon)
Joseph D'Onofrio	...	Bloodied Patron (as Joe D'Onofrio)
Elena Solovey	...	Kalina Buzhayev
Moni Moshonov	...	Marat Buzhayev
Mark Wahlberg	...	Joseph Grusinsky
Maggie Kiley	...	Sandra Grusinsky
Paul Herman	...	Spiro Giavannis
Robert Duvall	...	Burt Grusinsky
Antoni Corone	...	Michael Solo
Craig Walker	...	Russell De Keifer

Storyline

Brooklyn, 1988. Crime is rife, especially drugs and drug violence. A Russian thug is building his heroin trade, while everyone laughs at the cops. Brothers have chosen different paths: Joe has followed his father Bert into New York's Finest; he's a rising star. Bobby, who uses his mother's maiden name, manages a club. Bobby too is on the rise: he has a new girlfriend and a green-light to develop a Manhattan club. Joe and Bert ask him to help with intelligence gathering; he declines. Then, Joe raids Bobby's club to arrest the Russian. From there, things spiral out of control: the Russian puts out a hit on Joe, personal losses mount, and Bobby's loyalties face the test.

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Plot Keywords:

brother brother relationship | female masturbation | sex | female stockinged legs | pantyhose | 

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Taglines:

Two brothers on opposite sides of the law. Beyond their differences lies loyalty.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence, drug material, language, some sexual content and brief nudity

Details

Official Sites:

Sony Pictures [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Russian Spanish

Release Date:

12 October 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

La nuit nous appartient

Filming Locations:

East Village, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$21,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$10,826,287, 14 October 2007, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$28,563,179, 15 November 2007

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$54,926,886, 31 December 2007

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation, 2929 Productions, Industry Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

117 min

Sound Mix:

DTS SDDS Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

During filming, Eva Mendes reportedly asked James Gray if he'd change her character's name to honor her late grandmother Amada, whom she never met.

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Goofs

In the first scene, Bobby slides his left hand into Amada's panties, but in the next shot of him it has changed to his right, as that shoulder is moving and his left hand is at her neck.

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Quotes

Bobby Green: Oh man. This shit is making me feel light as a feather!

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Connections

Featured in At the Movies: Elizabeth: The Golden Age/Lars and the Real Girl/Sleuth/We Own the Night/My Kid Could Paint That (2007)

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Soundtracks

Heart of Glass
Written by Debbie Harry, Chris Stein (as Christopher Stein)
Performed by Blondie
Courtesy of Capitol Records
Under license from EMI Film & Television Music

User Reviews

Strong start and dumb finish

On the whole I think James Gray's movies benefit from his smooth directing, no rushed and furious MTV editing. This leads to a good deal of leniency from the part of critics (as with Night Shyamalan before it became too obvious he was shooting the same narrative structure over and over), a kind of prime for directors who don't harass the viewer with images + sounds but let the camera roll and the actors do their jobs, the story unfold and so on.

We Own the Night starts very well, the exposure is excellent. Even though the brother confrontation is definitely not new Joaquin Phoenix is so good you just get into the story and beg for the plot to become more complicated. Oops. The problem is the story becomes a one-way highway of the same old/same old. Joaquin Phoenix is ever so good you don't care too much until it becomes way way too much. In that respect (and lack of respect for the movie-goer) the movie ends in a lame way, rushing an happy and clean and tidy and moral conclusion.

The last lines (see the so-called "memorable quotes") say it all. It perfectly reflects that a smooth director may be too smooth on writing. Bringing sentiments before the camera is miles away from shooting scripted sentimentalism and I think James Gray has a problem with his characters' emotions since he is only able to play on pathos and good acting.