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We Own the Night (2007)

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Top Critics

Average Rating: 5.8/10
Reviews Counted: 145
Fresh: 82 | Rotten: 63

Bland characters, clich�d dialogue and rickety plotting ensure We Own The Night never lives up to its potential.

Average Rating: 5.9/10
Critic Reviews: 33
Fresh: 20 | Rotten: 13

Bland characters, clich�d dialogue and rickety plotting ensure We Own The Night never lives up to its potential.

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User Ratings: 253,885

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Movie Info

Set against the backdrop of the bloody battle waged between New York City cops and the Russian mafia in the 1980s, director James Gray's period drama tells the tale of an emerging club manager whose family ties to law enforcement make him a target for the city's most dangerous criminals. Bobby Green (Joaquin Phoenix) manages one of Gotham's hottest clubs, but being in the club scene often means turning a blind eye to blatant criminal activities. Realizing that his career -- and perhaps his life

R, 1 hr. 57 min.

Drama, Action & Adventure

Directed By: James Gray

Written By: James Gray

In Theaters: Oct 12, 2007 Wide

On DVD: Feb 13, 2008

Box Office:$28.6M

Sony/Columbia

We Own the Night Trailer & Photos

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Cast

Joaquin Phoenix
Bobby Green
Mark Wahlberg
Lt. Joseph Grusinsky
Eva Mendes
Amada Juarez
Robert Duvall
Bert Grusinsky
Antoni Corone
Michael Solo
Moni Moshonov
Marat Bujayev
Alex Veadov
Vadim Mezshinski
Tony Musante
Jack Shapiro
Christopher Walken

Critic Reviews for We Own the Night

All Critics (145) | Top Critics (33) | Fresh (84) | Rotten (66) | DVD (16)

An intriguing blend of mainstream audience-pleaser and a more subtle, even intellectual agenda.

July 6, 2010 Full Review Source: Salon.com

| Comment

Andrew O'Hehir

Salon.com

Top Critic

It's not surprising, but it's engaging enough that most patrons will likely cut the director some slack for the out-of-period details and convoluted plot contrivances that make the film seem at once sloppy and too neat.

October 18, 2008 Full Review Source: NPR.org

| Comment

Bob Mondello

NPR.org

Top Critic

This one hangs on the notion of fate, and once you've figured out whose fate is the central issue, the outcome -- even with those clumsy plot twists -- is fairly predictable.

October 20, 2007 Full Review Source: New York Daily News

| Comment

Jack Mathews

New York Daily News

Top Critic

As flat-footed as writer-director James Gray's script often sounds, his cops-vs.-mob tale can be strangely mesmerizing.

October 20, 2007 Full Review Source: Denver Post

| Comment

Lisa Kennedy

Denver Post

Top Critic

Time will tell, but from where I'm sitting this deceptively routine cop movie runs deep. In fact, it already looks like a classic. Cagney and Tracy would be proud.

October 20, 2007 Full Review Source: CNN.com

| Comment

(CNN.com) Paul Clinton

CNN.com

Top Critic

[With so many] plot twists and turns, it's almost like a bad parody of a Western.

October 15, 2007 Comment

Richard Roeper

Ebert & Roeper

Top Critic

Director-writer James Gray makes it all seem more urgent than it has any right to feel, because he knows how to make tense, violent dramas that are soaking in mood.

July 6, 2010 Full Review Source: Movies.com

| Comment

Dave White

Movies.com

This is a man's movie: gritty, macho, and lacking in grace.

July 6, 2010 Full Review Source: Boston Phoenix

| Comment

Brett Michel

Boston Phoenix

If We Own the Night is flawed and somewhat choppy, it served notice that Gray, once he refined his technique, would be a force to be reckoned with in the cinema world.

December 20, 2009 Full Review Source: Film and Felt

| Comment

Gabe Leibowitz

Film and Felt

Gray assumes rather than dramatizes the depths of his characters, scanning for gravitas where there are only rickety clich�s

August 27, 2009 Full Review Source: CinePassion

| Comment

Fernando F. Croce

CinePassion

A generic thriller that aims for deeper resonance, We Own The Night is an intriguing feature, undermined by a plot that stretches credulity, yet which still manages to conform to predictable gangster flick clich�.

October 18, 2008 Full Review Source: Future Movies UK

| Comment

Jay Richardson

Future Movies UK Source: Future Movies UK

Although We Own the Night is never as suspenseful as it wants to be and can be a little formulaic, it never comes close to being boring, and that's something you can't say too often about movies these days.

July 22, 2008 Full Review Source: Watertown Daily Times

| Comment

Adam Tobias

Watertown Daily Times

(We Own the Night) was terribly written and just such a waste of great actors.

May 24, 2008 Full Review Source: WJFK-FM (CBS Radio)

| Comments (3)

Kevin McCarthy

WJFK-FM (CBS Radio)

The pace may be a shade plodding at times, and the dialogue frequently does disservice to the subject matter. Yet the performances lift it out of the rut...

April 3, 2008 Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine

| Comment

Richard Mowe

Boxoffice Magazine

Lovers of good straightforward thrillers should find plenty to enjoy here.

March 19, 2008 Full Review Source: At the Movies (Australia)

| Comment

David Stratton

At the Movies (Australia)

It's a roller coaster, mainly because a good scene is typically followed by a bad one. For every thrill, there is a melodramatic moment that just doesn't work.

March 4, 2008 Full Review Source: The Scorecard Review

| Comment

Jeff Bayer

The Scorecard Review

The drama gains momentum in the second half, so the film gets better, but it's never too far from cliche.

February 29, 2008 Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald

| Comment

Paul Byrnes

Sydney Morning Herald

These are some of the finest actors in America, so it's no surprise that they deliver the goods and create solid, complex and accessible characters we can understand.

February 21, 2008 Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile

| Comment

Urban Cinefile Critics

Urban Cinefile

We Own the Night declaws the organized crime genre.

February 15, 2008 Full Review Source: Washington Times

| Comment

Christian Toto

Washington Times Source: Washington Times

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Audience Reviews for We Own the Night

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Entertaining enough but ultimately it's forgettable due to the fact it's a 'seen it all before' movie. It's not the worst of its kind by any stretch, it's just pretty underwhelming but it is directed very well with a good cast. James Gray is no Scorsese or Coppola yet but maybe in time...

December 13, 2011

Anthony Lawrie

Super Reviewer

Strangely polarizing film, among my friends, but I really liked this one. The acting is very good, and the story is searing, straight-forward good-brother/bad-brother stuff. Robert Duvall's turn as the brothers' father was excellent, and, (as he proves every year, now, it seems), Mark Wahlberg was born to play cops.

November 24, 2007

Daniel Perry

Super Reviewer

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