They can have the night.

Mark Wahlberg. Joaquin Phoenix. Robert Duvall. Sounds great, right?

WRONG.

Went to see We Own the Night on Friday with some of my intense-action-movie buddies (different friends for different genres) and have to say that this was probably one of the worst movies I've seen in a long time. Shockingly bad. From the definition-of-gratuitous opening sex scene to the meandering, predictable plot to the lack of character detail, BLECH. I almost fell asleep in the theater, and that never happens. I don't know what went wrong...great actors, and the fault is not theirs (I don't think...I couldn't help but think of the whispered reports of poor Joaquin's substance-abuse issues in the scenes where his character was all drugged out on coke). Waste of time and money. Sad! (Almost everyone else I saw it with thought it was "pretty good." I say, if you want Mark Wahlberg in a really good gritty crime drama, watch Four Brothers or The Departed. And for Joaquin at his struggling-while-intoxicated best, watch Walk the Line.)