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The focus is on male family members, fathers and brothers,
and the setting is the corrupt world of cops and gangsters in
New York immigrant communities. The past two films have come to
Cannes, and neither has escaped boos following its press
screening. The problem is not that Gray is an especially bad
filmmaker but rather that he is an unimaginative one. Clearly, these family themes contain a great deal of
autobiography and mean much to Gray. But he insists on setting
his analysis of the difficulties experienced by family members
who go very separate ways, often on opposite sides of the law,
in an overly familiar genre. So many great filmmakers have
mined this territory before him that he is reduced to searching
for scraps on the mine's floor. Why does he continually want to
go up against Scorsese and Coppola -- not to mention "The
Sopranos" -- with these small family dramas? "We Own the Night" -- a phrase used by an '80s-era NYPD
street crime unit -- is a more accomplished film than "Yards."
Yet it will fail to satisfy police movie buffs, as procedures
are de-emphasized, and the drama is too perfunctory and
obvious. Falling between the cracks as it does, the film's box
office performance, despite the presence of producers-stars
Joaquin Phoenix and
Mark Wahlberg (who both starred in "Yards")
looks very average. What Gray does best here is create an atmosphere of
palpable tension and dread. Once a gangster puts out a hit on a
family of cops, all of their lives are in danger every second.
You feel the weight of this fate in their every move around
Brooklyn. Phoenix plays Bobby Green, who runs a Russian-owned
nightclub in Brighton Beach. Because of this job, he has
changed his last name to disguise the fact he comes from a
Polish-American family of New York City cops. The name change
also betrays an estrangement from his dad, semi-legendary
deputy chief Burt Grusinsky (
Robert Duvall), and his brother,
Joseph (Wahlberg). The crucial problem here, if Gray seriously wants to focus
on family, is the lack of explanation for this estrangement.
Does Bobby not like cops? Or maybe just his brother? Did his
dad favor his brother when he was young because Joseph had
dyslexia? Perhaps he wasn't breast-fed. Speaking of which, where are the women in this family? Or,
for that matter, where are the women in this movie, since the
only major female role belongs to Bobby's sexy Puerto Rican
girlfriend, Amanda (
Eva Mendes)? With his dad's encouragement, Joseph has targeted the
nephew (Alex Veadov) of the nightclub's owner (Moni Moshonov)
for drug trafficking. The drug dealer resents this and puts out
a contract on Joseph. Joseph is seriously wounded but survives. Suddenly
rediscovering brotherly love, Bobby agrees to wear a wire when
he meets with the gangsters to inspect his drug operation since
the nephew wants Bobby to become involved in the business. But the operation goes wrong, a shootout ensues, Bobby's
family connections are exposed and a contract is out on all
male family members. Which, among other things, causes Eva to
have major reservations about continuing a relationship with a
guy who now wants to become a cop. What follows is all too routine and predictable -- the
escape of the drug dealer, a betrayal by a friend, an ambush of
cars escorting Bobby and Eva to a safe house and a death in the
family. The climax, too, reminiscent of that in "The French
Connection," is indifferently staged. The acting is solid but unexceptional. Tech credits are
more on the money: Gray shoots the film in a blue-gray that
feels ominous and grim. Even here, though, predictability
reigns: Nothing good ever happens in a film shot in such a
color scheme. Bobby Green: Joaquin Phoenix Joseph Grusinsky: Mark Wahlberg Burt: Robert Duvall
Vadim: Alex Veadov
Marat Bujayev: Moni Moshonov
Screenwriter-director: James Gray; Producers: Marc Butan,
Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg,
Nick Wechsler; Executive
producers: Mark Cuban, Anthony Katagas, Todd Wagner; Director
of photography: Joaquin Baca-Asay; Production designer: Ford
Wheeler; Music: Wojciech Kilar; Costume designer: Michael
Clancy; Editor: John Axelrod.
Reuters/Hollywood Reporter |
With three feature films to
his credit -- "Little Odessa," "The Yards" and now "We Own the
Night" -- writer-director James Gray makes essentially the same
film over and over again. 
