Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that while young kids probably won't be interested, older teens who like crime dramas may be drawn to this Joaquin Phoenix-Mark Wahlberg film. Like most mob dramas, there's lots of strong language and a great deal of bloody violence and illicit behavior (drugs and alcohol are everywhere, especially nightclub scenes). In addition to the execution-style killings and police ambushes, there are a few scenes of a couple intensely making out and a shot of two topless, drunk women dancing at a club.
Families can talk about the appeal of mob movies. Why are these violent movies so popular? What's so compelling about characters with one foot in the criminal world and one in law enforcement? Kids: Was the violence too graphic, or was it appropriate for the subject matter? How realistic do you think the film is?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Sandie Angulo Chen
There's something undeniably heart-stopping about watching an undercover cop or informant in action. At any moment the jig could be up and the fearless hero killed. In WE OWN THE NIGHT, Joaquin Phoenix perfectly conveys the terror of infiltrating a crime organization, but the stakes never seem quite as high as they do for Leonardo DiCaprio in The Departed.
It's difficult not to compare the two films, since both involve a character with a connection to cops and mobsters, bloody executions, a protagonist with a hidden identity, and a fine performance by Mark Wahlberg. But director James Gray's entertaining, poignant crime drama doesn't come close to matching the suspense, originality, or virtuoso acting of Martin Scorsese's Oscar winner.
Phoenix plays Bobby, a 1980s Brooklyn nightclub manager who uses his mother's maiden name so his acquaintances won't discover he's the son and younger brother of an NYPD chief (Robert Duvall) and captain (Wahlberg). He's living high off his club and his gorgeous Puerto Rican girlfriend Amada (Eva Mendes). When his brother's new task force raids the club, Bobby's two worlds tragically collide, forcing him to choose between the cops and the drug dealers working out of his club.
It's utterly predictable that Bobby makes the "right" decision, but Phoenix's masterly way of portraying vulnerable, roguish men is engrossing, even as you can tell several scenes in advance what bloody confrontations lie ahead. Mendes is lovely, but Amada and Bobby's passion doesn't seem destined to withstand at-close-range executions and constant threats from Russian mobsters.
The best scenes, as is to be expected, are those between Duvall, Phoenix, and Wahlberg. Each of them is so gifted that you end up wishing the film were less formulaic -- and less bloody.
Fans might enjoy other mob/crime dramas like The Departed, The Godfather, Eastern Promises, and Reservoir Dogs
Rate It!
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Sexual ContentNo sex scenes, but several scenes of Bobby and Amada making out/groping while clothed; two women dance topless on the club's bar; Joseph and his wife embrace. |
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ViolenceLots of violence, including many bloody, gory scenes: Many characters are shot -- a couple of them at close range, execution style; one man has the back of his head shot off; a character slits his own throat rather than talk to the police; someone is beaten up by the police; a character jumps out the window and onto a fence; etc. |
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LanguageNear-constant cursing: many, many uses of "f--k," "motherf----r," "s--t," "a--hole," etc. |
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Social BehaviorA club manager with seedy connections refuses to help his police officer brother. A tragedy forces him to reconsider, and he becomes a driving force in helping his brother expose a major New York drug operation. |
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CommercialismNYPD, Sheraton hotel, Blondie's disco songs. |
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Drug/Alcohol/TobaccoClubgoers and major characters do an assortment of drugs, including snorting cocaine, taking uppers/downers, etc. Many scenes include characters taking/dealing drugs or drinking. |
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