We Own the Night

Somewhere in the middle of James Gray's We Own the Night (only the third film Gray's directed since 1994's Little Odessa) Joaquin Phoenix has a powerful acting moment. All alone in a hotel room, after a traumatic incident, and without dialogue he breaks down. But only for a second, then he composes himself.
We Own the Night is a film full of such wonderful moments including two of the best action scenes in a movie recently. When Phoenix becomes an undercover informant for the New York police he gains access to a Russian mob's coke warehouse. This sequence should be known as the light as a feather scene but its imagery and action pacing are breathtaking. Ditto a car chase along a crowded freeway during the middle of a rainstorm. We're talking edge of your seat action. Those are a couple of good reasons to see this film.
Phoenix plays a kind of prodigal son and toplines We Own the Night with pro support from the likes of Robert Duvall, Eva Mendes, and Alex Veadov as a particularly sadistic mob enforcer. Mark Walhberg also co-stars and his eloquent and quiet performance shows that he has range beyond the acting turns that have earned him kudos in the past.
Director James Gray opts for a formula style narrative but stays true to his thematic exploration of the bonds that hold families together.