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We Own the Night
User Score
5.9 out of 10

Mixed or average reviews- based on 50 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 30 out of 50
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 50
  3. Negative: 11 out of 50

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  1. JayH.
    Feb 7, 2008
    5
    Imagine, a story about two brothers on opposite sides of the law..like that hasn't been done a million times before! Besides it's lack of originality, it has a negativity that leaves the viewer with a foul taste. It has one great car chase, the rest is predictable and slow moving. The characters are poorly developed. It is well produced however, and the actors do indeed try.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  2. JeffreyP
    Oct 10, 2007
    9
    As a filmed drama, James Gray has achieved a very simple, classically Greek, tale of the inevitable hero that is certainly his most commercially accessible work to date (if not, perhaps, as deeply satisfying as The Yards or Little Odessa even as it revisits several of their common themes). The car chase sequence is one of the best and most believable in years and serves, for a change, to actually push the plot forward. That, in itself, is an accomplishment. Technically and artistically it excells on all levels: from the acting to the editing, it is first-rate.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  3. BenoitD.
    Nov 30, 2007
    10
    On of the best movie I ever saw. Everything is perfect.
    • 0 of 1 users said yes
  4. JettN.
    Oct 19, 2007
    10
    Anyone who did'nt love this movie doesn't know what a good movie is. It is one of the most emotionally moving films i have seen i n a long time. Stellar performances by the whole cast, ignore these guys, go see it now.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  5. Matt
    Oct 26, 2007
    1
    The script in this movie is awful. It's just stupid. Why would the bad guys invite an outsider to their cocaine factory? How would the bad guy escape jail the day he is being brought to trial? Why would the NYPD make a civilian bar manager a cop overnight. It was just a dumb nonsense script. The only thing that makes this movie bearable is Eva Mendes.. she is gorgeous.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  6. JaredC.
    Oct 31, 2007
    7
    In We Own The Night, Bobby Green(played by Joaquin Phoenix) the owner of a night club, finds himself, his police captain brother Joseph, his father, a police chief, and his girlfriend in the center of a crime wave due to gangsters and drug dealers who are killing cops at an increasingly high rate. The movie was better than I expected, as I walked in not knowing what the movie was about(I had not seen the trailers or heard much about it prior to watching it). Joaquin Phoenix gave a good performance as the lead, but he didn't wow me as he did in Walk the Line(however, I don't blame him; His character felt underdeveloped to me, as did many others). Mark Wahlberg was just above average as Bobby's tough older brother who doesn't approve of his wild behavior. Eva Mendez plays Bobby's girlfriend and I found her part in the film almost pointless and her performance was just average. The movie drags in parts but for the most part it isn't boring and kept my attention. Although there was not much that really set the movie high above the average crime thriller, it did leave an impact on me at the end. I recommend the movie to those who are looking to pass the time.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  7. JoyceC.
    Oct 30, 2007
    0
    We Own the Night is a movie about how Martin Scorseses still does, don't expect a crime/drama, this is more of an action/adventure, wow was I sure wrong. Mark Walhberg is the most failing actor recorded in by book, his character is boring, and Joaquin Phoenix, did he ever copy leo in the departed. A total waste, the dumbest film of the year, James Gray wrote a story about the war upon night, and many clubs and characters. Sound like prohibition, but guess what, we don't have prohibition any more, it hasn't happened.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  8. Johnny2cents
    Feb 24, 2008
    0
    Surely there must be more than 8 planets in this galaxy ( Pluto has been declassified for all you geniuses who thought this was a great movie) because I was definitely in another galaxy. Implausibility after implausibility, even the Farrely brothers don’t have that much nerve. How can ANYONE find ANYTHING remotely good about this piece of unadulterated piece of garbage? Cliché is embarrassed. I ‘m not surprised that Marky Mark would star in such rubbish, but I guess Joaquin hasn’t learned how to use his star power yet and Robert Duvall, poor chap must he be desperate. Sorry I have to go to my telescope and see where the hell I am. -------0 your rating doesn’t go that low.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  9. ShimboL.
    Oct 13, 2007
    8
    Awesome flick...i liked it more than the departed.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  10. MarkC.
    Nov 6, 2007
    6
    First off, why all the Departed comparisons? Is it because of the stellar cast in an average movie with an anticlimactic ending. Because thats about all the comparisons that I noticed, well maybe the cops and badguys thing but C'mon. This movie was just OK, not great but worth watching.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  11. PeterK.
    Oct 16, 2007
    10
    A likeable movie because you care about its characters - in the same way that a good novel draws in its reader. See it.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  12. SulH.
    Oct 17, 2007
    3
    This movie was beyond boring! The really good cast tried really hard to make it work, but the movie just didn't present them with any gripping scenes. Joaquin Phoenix never makes the audience really feel like he's progressed, only that he's possibly going through the motions of being coked-up. And Avoid this one at all costs..
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  13. ArthurL.
    Oct 18, 2007
    6
    This film was a snore. Duvall slept thru his performance. The sex scene with Ms. Mendes was over-hyped. Wahlberg continues to perplex me; maybe he's still wearing CK's under his jeans. And Joaquin Phoenix, in not his strongest performance for a long time, still manages to dominate whatever emotive qualities there are in this porr imitation of The Departed.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  14. ChadS.
    Feb 18, 2008
    8
    Amada(Eva Mendes) is not a blondie; that's why "Heart of Glass" and "Rapture" throb on the soundtrack. This irony sets the stage for Amada's new life as a law and order man's girlfriend. But "We Own the Night" is dishonest about Bobby's father(Robert Duvall) and brother(Mark Wahlberg) in their dealings with Amada, the "brown-ie", the Puerto Rican who sticks out like a sore thumb at police functions. There's racism, but the film conceals it through editing. Since "We Own the Night" chooses to be cowardly about dealing with Amada's ethnicity, it's only fair that the writer hammers square peg attributes, such as integrity and a willingness to be law-abiding, down her round-hole essentiality. Amada likes being an outlaw, but "We Own the Night" doesn't want to Maria Conchita-Alonso her(she played a bad girl in Dennis Hopper's "Colors"), and reforms her party girl image. "We Own the Night" could've been an exceptional police procedural had Bobby(Joaquin Phoenix) insisted that the Grusinsky men accept Amada into the fold as one of the preconditions for his coaction in the family business.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  15. LauraV.
    Oct 14, 2007
    10
    I loved this movie. I saw al the conflits that James Gray was trying to convey about Bobby. Bobby wants the fun life and the higher salary with the gorgeous girl. Police make less money, it's harder work and their women don't look that great. Yet his father did instill in him honor which is what makes him do the right thing. I think the reason why people don't see the same things in the way the character was written is because they understand that kind of sense of honor. I couldn't do what Bobby did because I'm a coward, but I understand his sense of honor. I would wish I had that courage and that's what the mesaage in this movie is about. Departed is about police corruption. This is about family loyalty. Leonardo wanted to be a police officer to avenge. Bobby was forced to become a police officer to avenge. It would have been better to end it to find Bobby a club again though. But, it's the writer's choice to end the story his way. And Joaquin is terrific in all the different ways he had to show his emotions in this movie as he had to change from playboy to police. He's turning into one of our finest American actors (even though he was born in Puerto Rico, I'm pretty sure we can consider him an American).… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  16. jN.
    Oct 14, 2007
    9
    I like this movie. Although all the leads are excellent Joaquin Phoenix excels as the charming annoying Man who grows up and becomes a valiant crime fighter. Story is familiar for the Genre but the story is interesting and pulls you in as it goes along to its climax. Worth a look.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  17. MadhuM.
    Nov 6, 2007
    7
    Great movie. But it leaves you wanting more. Great acting by a great cast. Some really intense scenes, but the ending was just "okay" for me.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  18. fatsmiley
    Oct 16, 2007
    4
    Calling this film unoriginal would be a serious understatement. I had hoped these were going to be dark and complex characters, but they weren't, they were whiney and annoying. And you couldn't care less about the problems of these 2 brothers or what happens to them, since all we know about them is that ones a cop and one is a night club manager - and dad favors one over the other. It's almost like you're dropped into the middle of this film, like you missed the first hour. Also, I thought this film would have strongly benefited from more camera angles, sharper editing and most importantly, heavier mood music ....something, ANYTHING to bring you into this bland story.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  19. JavierR.
    Oct 26, 2007
    10
    This movie was the best movie i have seen all year it reminds similar to the movie The Departed both movies were great, this movie will have you glued to your seat like it did tom me.
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  20. BillC.
    Feb 13, 2008
    0
    I would have been much more pleased if it weren't so aggressive with the effects, it is so unhip and pleased with itself that James Gray just simply gives up and offers only a weak attitude for things. I was left disappointed, no wonder there is very little reviews for this film, because it looks like a Departed sequel. With a stolen actor playing an extremely similar character. It is truly predictable, and the story is obvious in terms of violence, conflicts, and reactions. It went the weak way of things and turned great and powerful gangster fun into a craphole of darkness where bitterness, and nothing can be seen. The thought of nothing and discomforting positions, where you become guilty of watching this film, it doesn't just have straight sex, it is obsessed with it. And the script felt like it was written by a 12-year-old, who makes things clearly simple enough for a seven-year old to understand. But with the addition of drugs, sex, violence, and -beepin- language, we get a restricted acomplyse. For me, this is Octobers worst big-hit since never. This is unique, but no one is pleased due to the terrible acting from Mark Walhberg, and his showing of age in his career during his previous productions Shooter film, which let most users down. From that, no one is willing to see this film because he is just not doing well. Anyways, if you have seen Shooter, DON'T, and if you do, DON'T see this either. Because their both the same, both sharing easily constructed plots, predictable ends, dull traits, and boringly pretty much the same thing as the trailer. Which shows only the best parts, and you don't realize that those really amazing parts are TOTALLY WASTED from poor direction. Wow was I sure mislead.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  21. GilbertA.
    Feb 13, 2008
    0
    Nothing Special whatsoever, I was letdown by its chunky execution. It is a lifeless, mechanical, easily let-out bore with no effect of engagement at all. Its cool look is not enough. It felt way too quick, it was fast-paced, and didn't explain much, or in better terms enough. It went so fast, it felt like an easy 80 minutes. The back did say 2 hours, but no way, it must have been way shorter than that. It wasn't just really rushed and fast, it was super-short as well, the plot went by like there is something missing. Most might disagree, but don't expect a departed sequel, it is pretty much like what people have been saying for Eragon 2006.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  22. NickD.
    Feb 19, 2008
    0
    Startlingly boring. Oh, was that car chase awesome? I wouldn't know, I was asleep by then. Sure the movie's opening was promising with Blondie's "Heart of Glass" playing in the background as Eva Mendes's exposed breast was being fondled, but after that the only thing that kept me riveted was the promise of an inevitable love scene between Scarface and Marky Mark which was sadly scrapped on the cutting room floor to make room for more pointless conversations about tables and table accessories. I give this movie two coughs, a yawn, and a pack of mules.… Expand
    • 0 of 0 users said yes
  23. pocumtuck
    Mar 14, 2011
    4
    This movie just didn't cut it. A guy (J. Phoenix) doesn't go from being a nightclub manager inside a drug den to becoming a decorated cop simply because his high-ranking father got killed. Mark Wahlberg gets shot execution style but lives... only in the movies. The plot lines aren't well developed. The viewer never gets to identify with any of the characters because they're all generic stereotypes, and many of the scenes are incredibly boring. I'm glad I watched this on DVD and could use the fast-forward button; an hour-and-45 minute flick took just 45 minutes to watch, and it still lacked entertainment value.… Expand
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Critic Reviews

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Metascore
59 out of 100

Mixed or average reviews - based on 33 Critics

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 19 out of 33
  2. Mixed: 14 out of 33
  3. Negative: 0 out of 33
  1. New York Magazine (Vulture)
    Reviewed by: David Edelstein
    70
    Gray knows how to sell the idea of unalterable destiny with a car chase: That's the mark of a real action director.
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  2. Rolling Stone
    Reviewed by: Peter Travers
    75
    We Own the Night is defiantly, refreshingly unhip.
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  3. Variety
    Reviewed by: Todd McCarthy
    70
    Adequately acted and flecked with the required quota of action to satisfy genre fans, pic recalls numerous good police dramas of the 1970s, but mostly in superficial ways that bring nothing new to the table.
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