We Own The Night DVD Review

We Own The Night reviews

DVD

We Own The Night

Author

anonymous

Date reviewed

2008-04-25 16:50:23

Provider

MRIB

DVD Review

For those unfamiliar with the director of this film, James Gray, he is the man behind the sort of movies that appear on Channel Five late at night and, for the most part, are so good you'll wonder why you'd never encountered them earlier. Take 2000's The Yards, for instance, a cunning hard-boiled thriller starring Mark Wahlberg and Joaquin Phoenix, both of whom also appear in this tale of sibling rivalry and loyalty.

Phoenix plays the manager of a bar owned by a Russian gangster who wants to open more clubs for his crimelord mentor. Unsurprisingly, he neglects to tell his boss not only that his brother is a cop but that their father (Robert Duvall) is one of New York's most celebrated police officers. That becomes public knowledge, though, when there's an assassination attempt too close to home and Phoenix is left with little choice but to to take sides.

There is much to admire here, notably Gray's assured direction which imbues the film with suspense and atmosphere. Indeed for movie fans bemoaning the noughties' lack of French Connection-style thrillers, We Own The Night is required viewing.

Copyright © MRIB 2008.