Os Donos da Noite

I loved everything about this movie. drama, action, love, loss, grief, anger and so much more. The actors really take you there and your heart beats as fast as their's and you're scared just as much as they are and you feel their pain and sadness and the movie is just amazing and i cant wait to see it so many more times at more college prescreenings and when it comes out in theaters all over! James Gray s awesome too, he's the writer and the director. he was at the screening i was at tonight and talked and he's such a great guy and he takes so much time to research and his emotion and passion for the story is very much shown and appreciated.

go see it right away, i know i will be seeing it again and again

The film starts in Brooklyn , 1888. Two brothers, Robert and Albert Green have chosen separated ways. Bobby Green Grusinsky(Joaquin Phoenix) is manager of a Russian club, who suffers emotional pain when has to confront with his father and brother. Joseph Green Grusinsky (Mark Wahlberg)is a police officer recently promoted to captain, he's a cold-blood professional. Their father is the upright Deputy Chief Albert Grusinsky(Robert Duvall). Bobby has a beautiful fiancée(Eva Mendes) and directs efficiently his club. When a Russian mobster is making his heroin trade, Joseph and Albert ask help to Bobby but he declines. Then Joe busts the discotheque that Robert manages and detain the Russian gangster but also to Bobby. Then the events wreak havoc and lead a spiral out of control.

This is a familiar drama full of intrigue, action, tension, thrills, and violence. Stunning performances by the trio protagonist, Wahlberg, Duvall and Phoenix who frequently casts for the director Gray. Gorgeous beauty from Eva Mendes who also does a magnificent acting as suffering girlfriend .This entertaining and suspenseful film is plenty of twists and unexpected turns. Adequate and moving musical score by Wojciech Kilar.Atmospheric cinematography reflecting splendidly interiors and exteriors from Queens streets.The picture is well directed by John Gray who frequently deals familiar conflicts set in N.Y , in fact he grew up in Queens and his grandparents were Russian immigrants. Gray is a nice writer/director and winner of several prizes.His first movie was ¨Litte Odessa¨(1994) at age of twenty-four and winner of the Venice film Festival, concerning also about Russian immigrants. His following was ¨The Yards¨ which was selected for official competition at Cannes Festival and starred by Mark Wahlberg and Joaquin Phoenix . His last film is titled ¨Two lovers¨(2008), and again with Joaquin Phoenix. Rating : Better than average, well worth watching.

On the whole I think James Gray's movies benefit from his smooth directing, no rushed and furious MTV editing. This leads to a good deal of leniency from the part of critics (as with Night Shyamalan before it became too obvious he was shooting the same narrative structure over and over), a kind of prime for directors who don't harass the viewer with images + sounds but let the camera roll and the actors do their jobs, the story unfold and so on.

We Own the Night starts very well, the exposure is excellent. Even though the brother confrontation is definitely not new Joaquin Phoenix is so good you just get into the story and beg for the plot to become more complicated. Oops. The problem is the story becomes a one-way highway of the same old/same old. Joaquin Phoenix is ever so good you don't care too much until it becomes way way too much. In that respect (and lack of respect for the movie-goer) the movie ends in a lame way, rushing an happy and clean and tidy and moral conclusion.

The last lines (see the so-called "memorable quotes") say it all. It perfectly reflects that a smooth director may be too smooth on writing. Bringing sentiments before the camera is miles away from shooting scripted sentimentalism and I think James Gray has a problem with his characters' emotions since he is only able to play on pathos and good acting.

I caught a recent screening of this film and as a fan of thrillers I was more than impressed. The film creates a handful of true white-knuckle scenes but also accomplishes telling a story that has weight and depth. I love when a film takes its time to develop real characters and not repeats of what we've already seen. The crime genre is so full of clichés already. This film pays homage to classics such as French Connection while breaking new ground in its family/police drama. Phoenix, Wahlberg, Duvall and Mendes are all superb. Eva Mendes deserves a particular mention, as she has not yet been seen this way before.

Os Donos da Noite (2007) is a powerful film based on a dark atmosphere, literally and figuratively. First of all, many, if not most, scenes are shot at night with an obvious aesthetic sense. Then, the topic deals with the violent conflict between the Russian underworld and the NYPD, within the Brooklyn of the 80s. It's an ultimate film noir: crime, treason, jealousy and fatalism are themes adroitly developed by James Gray and marvelously interpreted by an awesome cast. Robert Duvall is a honest and accomplished policeman, a wise and protector father, Eva Mendes is a deliberately inflammatory woman, Mark Wahlberg is the ideal son and then Joaquin Phoenix is the 'second' son with a slightly tortured mind and who seeks his own place in the shadow of his family. In my humble opinion, this movie is clearly underrated. As a synthesis: 8/9 of 10.