What a difference seven years makes. Gray has finally emerged with a new film that could earn both critical plaudits and win the 38-year-old director a larger audience. Called "We Own the Night," the movie is a gripping drama set in the 1980s at the height of a bloody war between New York police and Russian mobsters who have targeted the officers and their families. The film stars Phoenix and Wahlberg as brothers in conflict. ...

Having had an early peek at the movie, I can see what all the excitement is about. Gray's earlier films, including his 1995 debut, "Little Odessa," were intense dramas, reminiscent of '50s films by Nicholas Ray and Elia Kazan. (Variety dismissed "The Yards" as an " 'On the Waterfront' wannabe.") Despite stellar performances from such actors as Tim Roth and Phoenix, the pictures were too dark and claustrophobic to connect with mainstream audiences.

"We Own the Night" is a big breakthrough. It's a searing family drama as well as a cops-versus-criminals thriller with the same sticky web of loyalty and rivalry seen in Martin Scorsese's best work. Phoenix is the family black sheep, running a mob-owned nightclub, while Wahlberg has become a cop like their father, played by Robert Duvall. ...

Gray originally wrote the script for Warner Bros., encouraged by then-production chief Lorenzo di Bonaventura, who saw in Gray's script many of the compelling qualities of "Training Day," which was a big critical hit for the studio. But after Bonaventura was pushed out of the studio in 2002, Gray said the project began to lose momentum. When 2929 offered to finance the film, Warners let the project go.