We Own The Night review

Last year, Martin Scorsese made a little movie about moles and double crossing in the Boston police department. it won numerous awards including Best Director and Best Picture. That movie was The Departed, one of the best crime movies from the past few years.

This movie, James Gray's We Own The Night, seeks to continue the trend of great crime movies with strong ensamble casts. Does it measure up?

The film stars Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg, Robert Duval, and Eva Mendez. Two brothers(Phoenix, Wahlberg) live on opposite sides of the law- one is a cop while the other is a shady nightclub manager. In a world full of drug running crooks, will one brother choose family or career?

The plot is serviceable, but not original. The execution is good for the material, and the acting is quite good. The problem is, the movie doesn't strive for any excellence. It's good, but doesn't even seem to try anything new or extraordinary.

So, there isn't really much else to say. It's really an average but entertaining movie. It's a great rent, and it may even become a favorite if you really like cop movies.

The real problem is that it would inevitably be compared to The Departed, and it's so hard to live up to that movie. It's much shorter, less urgent, less interesting, and overall just less engaging. But, if you really enjoy cop action/crime movies, go ahead and give it a rent.

74/100