I just finished watching as well. Same thing: there was a lot of good there, but something was missing.
I gave it 24 hours and realized what it was: not enough grounding of the relationship between Bobby and the Russian mob family. There were what, maybe 2 scenes where you got the feeling that there was history there? But it was so crammed into those 2 scenes. The movie was not that long (about 1'37", right?) - seems to me there was time to fit in more. Then Bobby's buildup/let down would have been much more believable and moving. As it was, you kinda got that there was something missing in his family that he was getting with the Russians, but you never had the chance to feel it enough.
I also felt that the script lacked a lot of clarity in terms of the theme of selfishness in the family, how it drove them apart, and how Bobby's character was motivated/affected by that. The last scenes should have been really moving — Bobby was, in spite of his heroic efforts — alone and abandoned, again. His brother has decided to leave the force, his father is dead, his girlfriend has split... everything that motivated him to be a hero didn't come through for him, in the end. Can you get sadder than that? It was moving, but you should have been crying at that point... and with the rushed, choppy script, you just weren't emotionally 100% there at that point.
Also: Bobby's father makes references to how 'crazy' he is... would have been good to get more scenes of Bobby as an outsider, black sheep. Would have driven the points above home even more.
I love Phoenix, I'm a huge fan and I've been following his career for a while. I was really happy to see a solid, smooth performance out of him. He's had moments where his character fell down in other films, and for the first time in a long time, he really carried it all the way through. With a better script, this would have been an outstanding performance, I'm sure.
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vksosa84
17 years ago
I was going to comment on this, but I agree with almost everything tatacalimera said. This movie did lack something... the good acting didn't make up for the lack of character development. I didn't fully understand the realtionships between Phoenix and his father and brother. I wasn't emotionally involved in the relationships between these people, but I was affected by Phoenix's powerful acting. That's why it felt like it SHOULD be a great movie, but it fell short. There were a lot of things that could have been expanded on, like tatacalimera stated above, and when it was over I was scratching my head searching for substantial meaning or something I could take from a movie that FELT like it had some deeper meaning. This movie was lacking substantial meaning, and that is one of the major differences between this and The Departed (as many people have compared it to). The Departed, among other things, was also about a deflated man who was determined to do what he thought was right despite what it cost him personally. But in The Departed you could experience the personal and psychological turmoil of Leonardo DiCaprio, while in this movie I felt like I was touching the surface of what was actually going on. I wasn't taken anywhere deep, just shown a decent story, and that was all. That's what I think was missing.
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St_Anus
17 years ago
^^i get what you mean, but there is no way in hell that 'departed' had more meaning than 'We Own The Night'. that movie was all surface. there is nothing to argue or say about it really. it's almost entirely a plot driven film.
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hcfurmatcher
17 years ago
There were 2 scenes that were cut out from the film that might have added a little clarity to both bobby's relationship with the russian family and the use of furs to smuggle the drugs.... these scenes were filmed in my fur store on w. 29th st in the city in the fur district. the film crew rented my store for the day. in 1 scene, there is bobby seeing the father, mother and grandkids in the fur store which would have given a better idea that the mafia kingpin was also a furrier. the second scene was bobby talking with morat in a very intense moment.
as stated. both scenes were cut.... i was also hired as an extra to be a fur worker so i was very obviously disappointed that the scenes, that would have made some things a little clearer were no where to be found....
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tatacalimera
17 years ago
Interesting, I think those scenes might have helped, depending on the dialogue... but it needed even more than that. As I said, at 1'37", they had the time. I'd like to see all the edited scenes, but I have a feeling this movie had major script issues, on top of choppy editing. Or, most likely, the editor just didn't have enough to begin with.
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