This James Gray movie is the story of two brothers Joseph [Mark Wahlberg] and Bobby [Joaquin Phoenix], one a cop and the other running a night club. Bobby has deserted his family name and legacy of being a cop, to own a night club. He spends his nights with his eye candy girlfriend [Eva Mendes] indulging in alcohol, drugs, gambling. Their paths coincides when their father Burt [Robert Duvall] who is also a cop, alongwith Joseph asks Bobby for information about Vadim, member of a dangerous Russian criminal underworld. Now will Bobby help his family or side up with Vadim? Will Joseph take on his own brother in order to crack down the mafia? All these questions are answered in the movie in a very swift and suave manner.
Trivia:-
· Initially the movie originated at Warner Brothers, but later it was acquired by Universal.
· It took very long to complete the movie as Director James Gray refused to shoot the film in Toronto.
· Sony bought the film for a reported $11 million.
· According to an interview with Mark Wahlberg, Joaquin Phoenix would get into character by hurling insults at Robert Duvall between takes. This upset Duvall greatly and Wahlberg had to restrain him.
Mark, Robert and Joaquin infuse the movie with high performance act throughout the movie. The direction has been to the point and the twists and turns are very well blended with the plot to spring a new surprise every now and then. He has also exploited the New York backdrop in a superb manner. Action sequences are also well shot and with little Scorsese type drama reminding you of Departed, the movie is a complete package.
The only thing which I did not liked about it was the run time of almost 2 hours. With a little more editing it would have been crispier. Nonetheless it is not boring at any point of time. So if you are not throwing water balloons than it is a good utilization of your time in which you can get into.
