WE OWN THE NIGHT **

The theme of brothers on opposite sides of the law is nothing new in movies so if you are going to make another movie on the subject you better make it a good one. Thankfully James Gray's "We Own the Night" is very good indeed. This time it's the Russia mafia who are the bad guys and Joaquin Phoenix is the brother who is caught up with them. The 'good' brother, Mark Wahlberg, is a New York cop, (the title, 'We own the night' is the motto of the New York police force), and when he's gunned down, Phoenix changes sides. 

It's a smart, old-fashioned movie that, minus the sex, swearing and extreme violence, wouldn't have disgraced Bogie or Cagney back in the day and Phoenix in particular is splendid in his role. There's also a very good performance from Robert Duvall as their father, who also happens to be a cop while Joaquin Baca-Asay's location photography of, mostly night-time New York, is outstanding. See it.