We Own the Night

Hi..
I enjoy police / Cops movies alot, some of my favourite movies are Striking Distance, Cop Land and Oscar winner The Departed (Widescreen Edition),
So i was pretty excited to see this one, which involves a family of Law enforcement officers, and one son who is on the other side of the law, or so it seems !
Im not a particular fan of Joaquin Phoenix, but he did a good job in this one, Mark Walheberg was pretty good here, so was Robert Duval,
the plot was intriguing, and never dragged or slowed its pace, had some action but i felt like i needed more..
Overall, a very entertaining police drama, very good preformances from the cast, a movie worthy of 4 stars, minus one because the lack of more action and a standard sound track which needs more work..
Im also excited to see the new police drama starring Keanu reeves which will be released within the next two weeks, its called Street Kings..i can't wait for that one

"Booed at the Cannes film festival (always a sign that a movie has good energy), James Gray's pulverizing crime drama is unafraid to put its passions right out where it's easy to mock them. We Own the Night is defiantly, refreshingly unhip." Peter Travers

A movie that does not have original material, but it works in spurts. The
dark underworld of Russian crime- this is the group du jour of crime nowadays. The New York City Police Department who in the 1980's according to Roger Ebert used the 'We Own the Night" slogan of the New York police, painted on the sides of their squad cars as a promise to take back the night from the drug trade. Two members of the NYP- Robert Duval and Mark Wahlberg as father and son want to bring that drug trade down. The other brother, Joaquin Phoenix, for whatever reason, has become the manager of a club that caters to the drug crowd. At opposite ends, oh yes. Until, until, something big happens and the son Bobby Green turns to the side of the law. Eva Menedes does an admirable job playing Bobby's love interest, and this emotional tangle brings this film some real credibility.

The action in this film and in particular the car chase on a wet rainy night with fog so thick you can barely see is a raw knuckle event. The raw and grainy fear is palpable, and I can envision the fear and heart racing excitement.

"But this is an atmospheric, intense film, well acted, and when it's working it has a real urgency. Scenes where a protagonist is close to being unmasked almost always work. The complexity of Bobby's motives grows intriguing, and the concern of his girl friend Armada is well-used. "We Own the Night" may not solve the question of ownership, but it does explore who lives in the night, and why." Roger Ebert

Recommended. prisrob 03-29-08

Broken Trail

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Not for small children due to sex, violence and language. But certainly a good movie about the strength of family ties, lots of action and good acting.

Blu-ray movies the way to go it don't get better then high def at least not yet. Oh good flick

The critics were not especially kind to "We Own the Night", but it is really a very enjoyable cop/suspense film. Outstanding performances from Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg and Robert Duvall make this a worthwhile venture. Set in the early 80's (great soundtrack, by the way), the film explores the conversion of a bad guy (Phoenix), born into a family of cops, into a hero. Eva Mendes turns in an arresting performance as Phoenix's girlfriend: touching, intense and sexy. The action in this film is stunning. There's a car chase that will make you jump out of your seat. See it. You will not be disappointed. Be aware that the sexuality, language and violence are extremely graphic.