The Clarion

Issue date: 10/16/07 Section: Arts & Entertainment

Media Credit: courtesy of Columbia Pictures Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg face off as brothers on both sides of the law. [Click to enlarge]

"We Own the Night" is complicated in plot, yet simple in its emotional power. The film also has excellent character development, even for smallest roles. The use of explicit language and stark violent scenes truly convey a feeling of the 1980s street battles between police and drug lords.

The title of the movie, which is derived from a police slogan and was lettered on squad cars, declared that the night could be taken back from the horrors of the drug trade.

In the first few moments of the film, the audience is taken back to the 1980s through black-and-white footage of the crackdown on the drug trade.

Joaquin Phoenix stars as Bobby Green alongside Mark Wahlberg as Joseph Grusinsky. The two portray brothers on opposite sides of the law in the dark and dank back alleys of Brooklyn.

Bobby is the manager of a popular Brooklyn nightclub but ignores drug trafficking on the premises.

His brother Joseph has just been promoted to police captain in the police department run by their father Burt Grusinsky (Robert Duvall).

Keeping his cop relations under wraps, Bobby blissfully manages the club under the Russian owner (Moni Moshonov) who treats Bobby as his own son.

Bobby refuses to let the drug trade mar his image and fleeting fame as the manager of a successful hotspot.

Bobby is also in love with Amada (Eva Mendes) and is far too busy to get involved with his brother or father.

Then the brother and father come calling and seeking information about a drug kingpin, Vadim (Alex Veadov), who sells cocaine in Bobby's club. The coke trafficing is exposed, and Bobby lands in handcuffs.

The film focuses on the power of the drug lords and how they can terrorize people, even the police. In the end, Bobby must decide whose side he is on and that he cannot have the best of both worlds.

With its realistic soundtrack and 1980s style, "We Own the Night" does not disappoint because it is so jam packed with high intensity and spectacular acting.

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