If you can believe Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg as brothers, then you may have a chance with “We Own the Night,” a dour police drama. This is a variation on the old story of good brother-bad brother.
It’s 1982, back when New York was a more dangerous place, and we first meet Phoenix as a prince of the Brooklyn nightclubs. His character, Bobby Green (born Grusinski) is the manager of a hot club, and Bobby partakes of the accessories of such a life: cocaine, trophy girlfriend (Eva Mendes), fancy clothes. He’s the kind of man who wears a scarf in warm weather.
All of which is stomach-turning to his father (Robert Duvall) and his brother, Joe (Wahlberg), who are cops. They still have the name Grusinski, and they believe in hard work and honesty.
In short, a bigger group of wet blankets you never saw. A story kicks into gear when a dangerous Russian mobster, a regular at Bobby’s club, takes offense at the place getting raided by Joe’s vice squad.
Writer-director James Gray, who made the similarly glum “Little Odessa” and “The Yards,” doesn’t find a way to improve on the plot, which is the kind of thing that Warner Bros. was doing in the 1930s with James Cagney and Pat O’Brien.
Gray is nothing if not serious, and the movie grinds its way along. It has none of the zest or movie pleasures of “The Departed,” a film that never pretended to be terribly original.
This one offers Phoenix a chance to suffer in many different ways, that’s for sure. Wahlberg, who’s fine (he always seems to do better in smaller roles), and Duvall are supporting characters.
Even when he played Johnny Cash, Phoenix still looked like the emperor from “Gladiator,” with his Roman head and his stumpy body. He’s the best thing about this movie, because his gloomy personality fits the doomed tone of the picture.
Gray tries to catch a mood in New York before its cleanup, and I guess he succeeds at getting a sickly, dangerous atmosphere. Whether that is anybody’s idea of a night out at the movies is another issue.
“We Own the Night”
Doom and gloom: Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg are brothers in NYC in 1982; the former a high-living nightclub manager, the latter a straight-laced cop. You’ve seen this one before, but it’s usually been more fun than this.
Rating: R for violence, language, nudity
Now showing: Alderwood Mall, Everett, Galaxy Monroe, Mountlake Terrace, Meridian, Metro, WOodinville, Cascade Mall
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