Frequently Bought Together
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Product details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Reviews
From Amazon.co.uk
In We Own the Night, Joaquin Phoenix, whose eyes burn with sullen anger even when he's looking at the woman he loves, plays Bobby Green, a nightclub manager in the 1980s who gets caught between his blood family he tried to leave behind--a long line of police officers--and his chosen family of friends and business partners, who turn out to be drug dealers. His father (Robert Duvall) and brother (Mark Wahlberg) want Bobby to help their investigation, but Bobby resists--until the conflict takes a brutal turn. Writer/director James Gray wears his influences on his sleeve; he's clearly seen every movie that Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola ever made and aspires to follow in their footsteps.
The familiarity of the movie's territory dilutes its impact, but the plot of We Own the Night remains unpredictable, the performances have a clean vitality, and Gray's moody visual style brings some life to the genre. Phoenix (Walk the Line) dives into his role, sifting through layers of guilt and familial resentment; Wahlberg and Duvall play parts they've essentially played a dozen times, but do so with commitment and integrity. Also featuring Eva Mendes (Ghost Rider) as Bobby's devoted girlfriend, who questions just how much she'll have to give up for him. --Bret Fetzer
Product Description
In We Own the Night Joaquin Phoenix plays Bobby Green, a young man who has turned his back on his family, going as far as changing his last name and concealing any links he has with New York’s finest. He is the manager of the popular El Caribe, the legendary Russian-owned nightclub in Brooklyn. But Bobby is about to go head to head with his brother and father when they become the target of the Russian mob.
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This film should have been a corker; good main leads, lots of good supporting actors and an interesting plot. Yet it came over as slow and pedestrian with the occasional burst of action (the bit in the stash house must have been done by a different team). At times the plot creeked as the Bad Guys Get Inside Knowledge device appeared, or we had the Men Beating Chests scenes, and we even had a You Killed My Pa scene. The Russian Mafia seemed oddly subdued, why weren't the girlfriend and her family clipped? It remains an undemanding action film, better (just) than watching re-runs of Friends on E4.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This blatant propaganda film for the New York Police Department, complete with the obligatory overladen police funeral scene, should have been a duck. Apparently it was panned by many critics and I can see why they might not have liked it.
Yet despite the formulaic all-American hero theme, there is an impressive understated central performance from Phoenix and the action scenes create genuine tension due to the clever use of sound effects.
Duval may well have been coasting in this movie, but nevertheless he's always watchable (apparently Christopher Walken was supposed to play his role). The rest of the cast looked convincing enough and Wahlberg performed the undemanding role of the favourite son with little difficulty.
Yes we've seen it all before, but for sheer brainless entertainment it passes a way of couple of hours very nicely.
Yet despite the formulaic all-American hero theme, there is an impressive understated central performance from Phoenix and the action scenes create genuine tension due to the clever use of sound effects.
Duval may well have been coasting in this movie, but nevertheless he's always watchable (apparently Christopher Walken was supposed to play his role). The rest of the cast looked convincing enough and Wahlberg performed the undemanding role of the favourite son with little difficulty.
Yes we've seen it all before, but for sheer brainless entertainment it passes a way of couple of hours very nicely.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
By Rowena Hoseason
TOP 50 REVIEWER
Format:DVD
This is a 'traditional' kind of New York police movie which tries hard to capture the flavour and tension of films like 'Heat' and 'Taxi Driver'. It doesn't quite make the Scorcese / Pacino / De Niro grade, despite a couple of excellent acting turns from Wahlberg, Phoenix and Duval. But it's decent entertainment; intelligent and with just enough action to hustle the plot along. Once scene in particular -- a hit which takes place as the heroes drive through soaking rain on busy city streets -- is especially atmospheric. It managed to add a layer of confusion, desperation and reality to what might otherwise have been a typical Hollywood car chase. Nice trick!
Where 'We Own The Night' lost points for me was in its portrayal of a full-on Russian mafia vendetta against the NYPD and officers' families, which seemed incredible. We also found it very hard to hear a lot of the dialogue -- no doubt it was all very heartfelt and beautifully acted, but we often struggled to understand what was being said over the soundtrack.
So not a classic, but worth viewing.
7/10
Where 'We Own The Night' lost points for me was in its portrayal of a full-on Russian mafia vendetta against the NYPD and officers' families, which seemed incredible. We also found it very hard to hear a lot of the dialogue -- no doubt it was all very heartfelt and beautifully acted, but we often struggled to understand what was being said over the soundtrack.
So not a classic, but worth viewing.
7/10
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
›
Go to Amazon.com to see all 99 reviews
3.7 out of 5 stars
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A well made film
I really liked this film. James Gray is an excellent director, and the cast is excellent. Mark Walberg is brilliant as the 'good' brother and Phoenix is fab as the 'flawed'... Read more
Published 13 months ago by Digby
1.0 out of 5 stars
Boring rubbish
Very poor movie with a completely stupid All American bad guy comes good ending where the brother actually joins the police { the vetting dept must have been on holidays the week... Read more
Published 16 months ago by uncle joe
5.0 out of 5 stars
Universal BD specs
Astounding Blu-ray from Universal, folks. Here are the specs:
Region A, B, C.
Video codec: VC1, 1080p; video (file size): 25, 5 GB. Read more
Region A, B, C.
Video codec: VC1, 1080p; video (file size): 25, 5 GB. Read more
Published on 21 Jan 2011 by D. Vitale
4.0 out of 5 stars
Better than the alternatives that year
We Own The Night (WOTN) is stylishly shot in fact it would remind of the kind of cinematography that Ridley Scott would/could have used, which sadly was lacking in Ridleys American... Read more
Published on 8 Mar 2009 by Dragonfly
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent film
Just watched this for the first time, only had a passing interest before. But I was very surprised at how good this film was. Read more
Published on 17 Feb 2009 by Richard Messitt
3.0 out of 5 stars
Seen It All Before
"We Own The Night" treads very familiar ground, in that its a story set in cocaine drenched eighties New York and about two brothers on different sides of the law. Read more
Published on 19 Jan 2009 by J. S. Meins
4.0 out of 5 stars
There's nothing more compelling than family!
The biggest and best stories are all about family. This film is all about family, whether it's the fraternity of cops, the Russian mafia or just simple brothers and their father. Read more
Published on 15 Dec 2008 by Alexander J. Wakeford
2.0 out of 5 stars
Very disappointing
A great premise and a cast choc-full of my favourite actors, I thought this looked like a safe bet. Me and OH found this movie to be slow moving and dull, veering wildly from the... Read more
Published on 23 Nov 2008 by daisyrock
1.0 out of 5 stars
Bad, no...very bad.
Bad from the very first scene. Amateur writing and directing. I don't know how this got made.
Published on 21 Oct 2008 by Mr. F. I. Dudaniec
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dark
I love this film.I love the bit where there driving and they get shot at and the bit with the lighter , total darkness !!! This is defo a must have , its a proper gangster drama
Published on 6 Oct 2008 by David Byrne
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
![[Start the discussion]](http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/02/x-locale/communities/discussion_boards/start-new-discussion-sec._V192198663_.gif){kind=small}
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
