We Own the Night

Aroview: Accomplished crime saga concerns a nightclub manager (Phoenix) on the fringe of New York's Russian Mafia, whose lifestyle is jeopardized when family connections to the police force are exposed.

With dir. Gray (THE YARDS) revisiting the nocturnal subcultures of an unglamorous New York - specifically, late 80s Brooklyn - this mines a vintage, understated aesthetic, sophisticatedly toned down from its overacted, overproduced close relatives (i.e. THE DEPARTED, AMERICAN GANGSTER). The genre elements may be familiar and dog-eared (if functional as a studio-era throwback), but that doesn't stop the film from thrilling courtesy of two exemplary set-pieces, and the interplay between its conflicted male trio, whose perilous blood ties deliver the necessary pathos and heartfelt emotion.

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