Joaquin Phoenix and Eva Mendes share an intimate moment in "We Own the Night."

BY BOB STRAUSS>FILM WRITER

"We Own the Night" may be a tense, violent police drama. But its opening scene - Joaquin Phoenix's nightclub manager making stoned love to his fun-loving girlfriend, played by Eva Mendes - is one of the more erotic things you'll see in a Hollywood production these days.
What was filming it like?
"I asked for 70 takes," Phoenix cracks. "Halfway through the take, Eva was like, 'Oh, we're done. I think you've got it.' "
"It was nerve-racking," Mendes admits. "But it's just part of the thing. If my character didn't go to deeply emotional places and all I was there for was the sex, I would not have done it. I wouldn't have done the movie; but because it was a journey and because we saw so many different sides of her, I felt this was an accurate portrayal of this person and of their relationship."
If Mendes has her way, though, her relatives won't be seeing certain parts of the character.
"I have instructed all of my family that they must show up 15 minutes late," she says with a laugh - but seriously. "That's it.
I told them. Thank God it's the first scene so they don't have to, like, you know ..."