Brooklyn in the late 1980s is the setting for writer-director James Gray’s (The Yards) story of family conflict amid the drug wars. Joaquin Phoenix plays the son of a deputy police chief (Robert Duvall) and the brother of a captain (Yards star Mark Wahlberg) but has opted for the glamour of running a night club. When the club becomes a target for investigations into cocaine trafficking, and the Russians who control the trade in turn target his family, he’s forced into choosing sides. But going against his former friends may endanger both himself and his girlfriend (Eva Mendes).
Gray’s a good writer, but not a great one. The plot has some surprises, but the characters are mostly surface. As a director, Gray favors a style that’s so naturalistic and so low-key that it may put off some people. The actors whisper a lot, or at least speak quietly, and the score is quiet or non-existent even during the action scenes. The color palette is mostly muted. There’s an intelligence missing from some flashier thrillers, but I felt that the film lacked a certain pizzazz.
IMDB link
reviewed 10/15/07
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