HD Trailer

Watch It

On DVD: Now | On Blu-ray: Now

We Own the Night Review

Release Date: Oct 12, 2007
Rated: strong violence, drug material, language, some sexual content and brief nudity
Runtime: 1 hr. 58 min.
Genres: Drama
Director:James Gray
Cast:Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg, Eva Mendes, Robert Duvall, Antoni Corone. Full cast + crew

Movies.com Critics

3.5

Dave White Profile <h3>Dave White</h3> <p><strong>Your Movies.com Man at the Multiplex</strong></p> <br /> <p>Dave White's first movie review was of the animated feature Snoopy Come Home. He was seven years old...<a href="http://www.movies.com/movie-reviews/dave-white">Read full profile</a></p>

… tense, violent, soaking in mood. Read full review

Other Critics provided by Metacritic.com

Critics scores range from 0 to 100, with higher scores indicating more favorable reviews.

3.0

59

out of 100

Metascore^®
Mixed or average reviews
based on a weighted average of all
critic review scores.
50

out of 100

The New York Times A.O. Scott
The problem with We Own the Night is that it mistakes sentiment for profundity, and takes its ideas about character and fate more seriously than it takes its characters and their particular fates. "I feel light as a feather," Bobby says in a crucial scene, at which point the movie starts to sink like a stone.

Read Full Review
60

out of 100

Los Angeles Times Kevin Crust
It's a bare-knuckled crime drama set in 1988 that stylistically could have been made that year and emphasizes Gray's strengths as a director while drawing attention to his limitations as a writer.

Read Full Review

60

out of 100

The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt
A more accomplished film than "Yards." Yet it will fail to satisfy police movie buffs, as procedures are de-emphasized, and the drama is too perfunctory and obvious.

Read Full Review
67

out of 100

Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
The story is too patterned and too contrived.

Read Full Review
70

out of 100

Variety Todd McCarthy
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.

Read Full Review
75

out of 100

USA Today Claudia Puig
The movie really belongs to Phoenix, who gives a haunting performance with just the right degree of intensity.

Read Full Review
75

out of 100

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
This is an atmospheric, intense film, well acted, and when it's working it has a real urgency.

Read Full Review
75

out of 100

ReelViews James Berardinelli
With a cast like this, one has a right to expect something amazing, so the fact that We Own the Night is merely "entertaining" might cause disappointment in some quarters.

Read Full Review
See all We Own the Night reviews at Metacritic.com

View MoreView Less

For Families provided by Common Sense Media

Iffy for 16+

Well-acted but very bloody crime drama.

What Parents Need to Know

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?

The good stuff

Messages: A 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.

What to watch for

Violence: Lots 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.
Sex: No 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.
Language: Near-constant cursing: many, many uses of "f--k," "motherf----r," "s--t," "a--hole," etc.
Consumerism: NYPD, Sheraton hotel, Blondie's disco songs.
Drinking, drugs and smoking: Clubgoers and major characters do an assortment of drugs, including snorting cocaine, taking uppers/downers, etc. Many scenes include characters taking/dealing drugs or drinking.

Common Sense Media

An independent nonprofit dedicated to providing families the information they need to help kids thrive in a world of media and technology.

View MoreView Less

Fan Reviews provided by

Average Rating: 3.732

Read all reviews Write a review at Fandango

by TerpsFan72

Read all We Own the Night reviews at Fandango