We Own the Night

We Own the Night

*** ¾ out of *****

 

A few nights ago, I talked to Bob and he said this movie was really filthy. I became curious as the whole premise, while violent, didn't lend to the movie being particularly "filthy". And indeed, the first actual scene of the movie is quite graphic and is deserving of an R rating all by itself. From that point forward though, the movie really doesn't go back there and actually tells quite a good story. Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg are terrific and Eva Mendes is stunning as usual. In fact, it sometimes takes away from the scenes she is in. She really is the only actress out there right now I would characterize in such a way. Robert Duvall is good in the movie as always but I found his character bordering on one-dimensional. Every line he has is critical of Phoenix's character. I think that if the movie were to lack in one area, it would be the dialogue. A lot of it seems simplistic. It also seems like the ending was rushed. I liked the character arc of Phoenix's character but found that the movie took an hour and a half to get somewhere and another 20 minutes to show what he did when he got there. I bet there was about 20 minutes of deleted scenes somewhere that they left out. It also seemed like Wahlberg and Duvall didn't have a lot of scenes. The movie centered around Phoenix A LOT more than I thought it would. Overall though, the movie was a great story. The scenes that were supposed to be tense were tense, there were twists, which I love, and the music and cinematography were fantastic. I would have liked to have seen this movie up for some awards and fear that in a few months it will be completely forgotten, but it really is worth watching.