BOTTON LINE: This film is a solid, character-driven film with an intricate story concerning a police chief father and his two sons, one a policeman, the other a nightclub owner associating with the criminal underworld. There's a lot going on and it's well acted, but the tone of the film is very depressing which detracts from the enjoyment of watching the great complicated story unfold.

THE GOOD: "We Own The Night" has a very rich, dramatic texture to its story-telling. It's the type of film that will pull you in with the intricate details of its story, and with characters that undergo major shifts in their life journeys. The primary case in point is Joaquin Phoenix's character Bobby who initially shuns his father's (Robert Duvall) calls for help in nailing the Russian mafia who frequent his night club. This brings him in to conflict with his brother Joseph (Mark Wahlberg) when he leads a raid on Bobby's night club. After the three men come to blows, Bobby comes to see the light when Joseph is shot by the Russian mafia but manages to survive. Bobby decides to help his father catch the bad guys, but the costs are high and the three men find they are involved in something they may not come out of alive. The cast is excellent, with Joaquin Phoenix providing a well rounded, three dimensional portrayal of his character Bobby who has a big journey in this film, going from naughty playboy to responsible citizen. Robert Duvall is excellent, as is Mark Wahlberg who is perhaps more understated here than in his other films. Eva Mendes also does a great job as Bobby's girlfriend Amada, providing a level of depth and quality in her performance that elevates her character beyond a simple love interest. "We Own The Night" is a dramatically rich, unwinding tale of a film that will keep your attention right until the very end.

THE BAD: The execution, both visually and dramatically, is quite dark and depressing, and not in a good way. This film unravels as a downer from start to finish, and given its slower pacing and yellowish visual hues, the experience of watching the film is not as satisfying as what it could have been given the strength of its story and characters. This might have been an attempt to make the film "realistic" but it doesn't work in the film's favour; you only have to look at films like "The Departed", "Goodfellas" or even "Scarface" to understand how you can make a dark story filled with nefarious characters entertaining.