Rating: 4 Pulsees

Rated R

Writer/director James Gray returns to the dark, gritty underworld he explored in 2000’s The Yards, again pairing Wahlberg and Phoenix, but this time as brothers on opposite sides of the law.

While Joseph (Wahlberg) followed Daddy’s footsteps into the NYPD, Bobby (Phoenix) is a slick club manager with a taste for drugs and gambling.

Daddy (Duvall) warns Bobby the two paths will eventually cross, but he shuns the moral path at every turn. When Bobby’s ties to the Russian mafia threaten the family, he goes undercover to stop them. You won’t find any “rat” cliches, as the story keeps you speculating.

Both Wahlberg and Phoenix hold their own against screen heavyweight Duvall and even Mendez brings a depth to the stereotypical girlfriend role.

But Phoenix owns the film, expressing the frustration of a man discovering everything he has to lose while determining what he has to do to maintain it all.

The script is sound, but saturated in the gangster folklore that precedes it. Drawing too closely from the genre’s history is the film’s only drawback. It’s not the caliber of The Departed and The Godfather series, but does tell an interesting story and takes the time to develop compelling characters.

The pace feels methodical, a deliberately slow and steady build to tense moments like a teeth-gritting car chase in the rain and continues to keep you on the edge of your seat.