Ray Pride

Autumn is upon us if the sere, severe, serious likes of "The Assassination of Jesse James by The Coward Robert Ford" and James Gray's brutal, assured third feature, "We Own The Night" are filling American screens. In his earlier features, "Little Odessa" (1994) and "The Yards" (2000), the 38-year-old demonstrated his affinity for the grand canvas upon which an intricately orchestrated tale is told. Gray regulars Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg play Bobby Green And Joseph Grusinsky, brothers in 1988 New York. The city's gone to wrack and ruin and Russian mobsters import drugs with impunity. Bobby, who's changed his name, has hidden his legacy as part of a family of New York policemen, runs a Russian-owned Brooklyn nightclub, loves his girlfriend Amada (Eva Mendes). Joseph's promoted to heading a narcotics strike force, which leads to his brother's club and to operatic levels of retribution against his family, including his father, a career department big played by Robert Duvall, by mobsters led by the memorable Vadim Nezhinski as a soft-spoken dagger of danger. "We Own The Night" is grandly suggestive, with a two-brothers-and-a-father component worthy of Visconti's "Rocco and His Brothers," a Shakespearean portrait of a father in his age and, of course, the mark of Cain writ large. There's a car chase in the rain worthy of comparisons to "The French Connection," and the elegance of the filmmaking, in story construction, design and accruing emotional impact, is deeply impressive. Wojciech Kilar's score is mournful throughout, balancing the 1988-era pop songs. 116m. Anamorphic 2.40 widescreen.

"We Own the Night" opens Friday.

(2007-10-09)

Also by Ray Pride

Cheeseball
A veteran of Second City, who's since directed HBO specials with Denis Leary and Jon Stewart, Jeff Garlin has also been a sidekick in a number of movies (such as "Daddy Day Care") but most memorably, as the agent and best friend of Larry David in "Curb Your Enthusiasm," now in its sixth season. Garlin's also captured John Waters' one-man show, "This Filthy World," on film, which just opened in England and should be on DVD here soon. Garlin's feature writing-directing debut, "I Want Someone To Eat Cheese With," is amiable, meandering, modest yet satisfying
(2007-10-08)

There’s Something About Queefing
"The Heartbreak Kid," a remake of a memorably bracing Elaine May comedy, is directed by the Farrelly brothers, Peter and Bobby, whose biggest success was "There's Something About Mary" (1999) with its pinched-testicle and semen hair-gel jokes. The "Jackass" crew and Sacha Baron Cohen, among others, upped the gross-out ante since then, and extended what the MPAA allows in its R-rated movies. While the source material is respectable, the Farrellys do desperate things in hope of a career comeback after the sweet-tempered but low-grossing "Stuck On You" and "Fever Pitch." The result isn't outrageous, but almost insanely repellent
(2007-10-05)

Commissioned
Dusk Saturday night and the Milwaukee Avenue storefront between a botanica and Rodan glows white from within, an exhibition that will last only the night. Furnishings shop Fenway Gallery vacated the day before, and artist Melina Ausikaitis and her friends were up until 5am assembling "Melina's Big Drawing"
(2007-10-02)

The 43rd International Film Festival
Ray Pride's picks for this year's fest
(2007-10-02)

Tip of the Week
(2007-10-02)

The Life Sub-Asian with Wes Anderson
(2007-10-02)

Heart of Larkiness
(2007-09-25)

Tip of the Week
(2007-09-25)

Tip of the Week
(2007-09-18)

Mush From The Wimp
(2007-09-18)

Long Live the New Flesh
(2007-09-11)

Tip of the Week
(2007-09-11)

about Newcitychicago | about Newcity magazine | advertising | privacy policy | FAQ | employment