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BaftaBaby 
"Always entranced by cinema."
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 Posted - 12/17/2007 : 20:08:10
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We Own The Night
We're in similar territory to American Gangsters only 20-odd years later and this time the war's in Iraq and NY's finest are coming to terms with the aftermath of Glasnost. Which means Russian drug gangs and brutal protection tactics honed by slicing through the Chechan hordes that stayed at home.
Overlaps, too with Cronenberg's Eastern Promises - a far better film, though this one has its moments. Hard to imagine what original director Rob Reiner might have produced before he left the project in the hands of screenwriter James Gray, who made the impressive Little Odessa. Gray, grandson of Russian immigrants, also pit Mark Wahlberg against Joaquin Phoenix in The Yards, so his elevation to head honcho for We Own the Night wasn't such a stretch.
The film feels very bitty, and that's it's biggest flaw. I've got nothing against non-linear narrative, but there are too many focus switches from one story to another. There are also continual inconsistencies of what the French call mise en scene: some scenes are framed and controlled as though from a manual on How To Make Movies, while other sequences really chill you with originality and atmosphere. There's a scene where some gangsters lead Phoenix down a hallway, that's as good as anything the Coen's created in that creepy Barton Fink hotel.
First of all, the story's not really about drugs or cops n drug-lords at all, though surely that's the backdrop. It's about family [shades, again of American Gangster], and a black sheep son's homecoming. Phoenix, as Michael, is the sheep, of course, a coke-sniffing club manager who keeps the place full which makes its Russian owner very happy indeed. So pleased is he that he offers Mike a chance to move out of Brooklyn and into Manhattan to run a new and more lucrative operation.
In fact, everyone's pleased with Michael, who's plied with food and good advice by the boss's wife and family, and with hot sex by his gorgeous girlfriend played with genuine charm by Eva Mendes.
But the real money-making operation is All in the Family. The boss's nephew Vadim, a sleazy pony-tailed menace regards Michael as too much of a threat to his place as uncle's favorite.
Meanwhile, Michael's almost a pariah within his own family -- his white sheep brother Robert, recently bumped up a rank in the NYPD, and who is the favored son of Police Chief Burt [Robert Duvall, simply incapable of bad acting].
When Michael learns that it's Vadim who gunned down his brother, he experiences his own private conversion of the road to Damascus. He agrees to help his father and recovering brother to nail the baddies once and for all. The emotional dynamic that blossoms among the three men is the heart of the film.
And if that all sounds too contrived, sadly it is. To get to the entirely sentimentalized ending the cops-n-gangsta tale is just too convenient. But along the way there's plenty to ... well, if not exactly to like, then to admire.
I suspect Grey will eventually find his way to tell stories that are led by character rather than trying to fit some do-it-yourself genre manual.
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MisterBadIdea 
"PLZ GET MILK, KTHXBYE"
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Posted - 12/18/2007 : 04:17:42
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Honestly, I consider it an equal of Eastern Promises, but that's more of a knock at Eastern Promises. I think they're both potentially mediocre genre films elevated by a couple great performances and bravura sequences.
Even better than the fantastic scene BB alludes to is the opener, set to Blondie, and featuring one of the sexiest performances ever by Eva Mendes. Gray really does some fantastic work behind the camera.
I think what saves the movie from over-sentimentalizing Joaquin's return to the fold is the fact that Joaquin's life before his conversion seemed completely fucking awesome, whereas being a cop doesn't seem very enjoyable at all, in the least little bit. A shell-shocked Wahlberg can't handle the strain, and I don't think Phoenix smiles even once in the second half.
I wanted to mention that I really thought Mendes was great in this movie, not just for being really sexy (which is a highly underrated skill, and several of the most beautiful actress in the world have never really been sexy on screen) but also as an actress -- I really liked her dumb, shell-shocked performance in the last half of the movie.
As a side note, a buddy and I watched We Own the Night immediately after seeing Michael Clayton to wash the taste of boringness out of our mouths. It's not a fantastic movie but it sure as hell entertained us more than Michael Clayton. |
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We Own The Night - prob'ly spoilers
