Coming out later this year, We Own the Night is the third film by my cousin, writer-director James Gray, following Little Odessa and The Yards to complete a New York-based trilogy of sorts. We Own the Night stars Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg, Robert Duvall and Eva Mendes.

James showed a not-quite-polished cut of the movie to friends and family this past week, and I have to say, I'm really excited for him. The film is taut, tense, intense. It might look like a simple genre film at first - one brother's a cop, the other operates on the fringe of the law - but it is sharply plotted with nuanced relationships among the characters and great performances, including some from unknowns.

And while this wasn't important to me personally, I think this is his most marketable film. Little Odessa, in particular, was a pretty straight tragedy - elegaic in many ways and heartbreaking - but even with Tim Roth in a strong lead performance, not as easy to promote. We Own the Night, I hope, will get more attention.