User reviews

The Yards is labelled a thriller, at least here in Sweden, but I think that this movie is a drama more than anything else. A very dark drama about crime and family. I was pleasantly surprised when I realised that this was not the Godfather-wannabe that some people have suggested. The Yards stands on its own, and even though it is no masterpiece it is a very interesting and tense drama with a great cast. Mark Wahlberg does a good job, but Joaquin Phoenix is certainly the stand-out. Also, his complex character is by far more interesting than Wahlberg's stereotype. Great performances from Charlize Theron and James Caan as well. (7/10)

I've just read someone else's review of this film that claims there are too many subplots, that it is too melodramatic and that there is so much going on the reviewer ended up not caring what happened.

This could not be further from the truth. There are only a couple of subplots, and they are very basic, easy-to-understand concepts that do not get in the way of the main theme.

I would also contest that this is a 'romance'. Whilst this is one of the subplots, putting it under 'romance' as one of the main genres is mildly misleading.

The performances from all central actors are excellent. As my title suggests this is a slow-burner but Walburg puts in a great performance and I DID care what happened to him in the end.

Oh, and listen out for the soundtrack. It really is quite striking.

The yards is a film about the shady on-goings of the contractors in New York City who work to rebuild the city's subway cars. Underneath the suits are ruthless mean trying to get ahead in the busines by whatever means necassary. Everything seems to be going fine until Leo Handler (Wahlberg) gets out of prison and enters into the dark business himself, his presence will trigger a series of events that will rock their dangerous world.

Leo finds that his aunt (Dunaway) has married one of the biggest contractors, Frank Olchin (Caan). With no money and a patrol officer breathing down his back, his mother (Burstyn) in bad shape, Leo turns to Frank to help him out by giving him a job in his successful business. Leo wants to follow in his best friend, Willie's (Phoenix) footsteps in the business, 'cause it seems Willie is doing ok for himself, with enough cash to spare for his girlfriend (Theron) and consequently Leo's cousin and one-time-love. But when a money-deal goes wrong, Willie kills a yard-master and Leo beats a cop into a coma - something that could see him revisiting prison and getting a life sentence. Now Leo is on the run, and blamed for the murder aswell. The business that welcomed him with open arms, is now looking to get rid of him, before he brings down all they worked for.

The Yards is slow at times. The story-telling appears to go at a snails pace, but thats ok, because the story-tellers (the actors) are more than enthralling enough to entertain for the whole 110 minutes. Wahlberg is deep and moody as always, and while the performance mirrors alot of his previous works, he still seems to have 'something' that keeps you hooked. Theron proves she is more than just a pretty face as she plays a soft-spoken character who has much to hide and slowly reveal as the plot thickens. But the out-standing performance is Joaquin Phoenix. This man can do no wrong and is seriously one of the best actors of our time. He is disturbingly dark at times, but can easily switch gears and play-out the most emotionally intense scene with just a single tear running down his cheek. this man is amazing, and one day justice should be carried out and he should be handed an Oscar.

Watch this film, if for nothing more than to check out the Wahlberg/Phoenix punch-up which the actors really participated in (and were apparently black and blue the next day). Great, great film.

. . . you know you've got a movie that tried something different. Not NEW, necessarily, as The Yards is paced, structured and shot like it was made before 1976. But you don't see that often these days. The Yards is an entertaining and noble attempt at a tribute to crime films of that era. I have friends who don't have the attention span to sit through The Godfather(on some days neither do I) - I wouldn't recommend this film to them. Reared as our younger generation was on Spielbergian and MTV-cut films, the pacing of both that film and The Yards are slow and deliberate - sometimes hard to take. The Yards could have used a bit of tightening up in editing, just seconds off of a scene here, a scene there to move things along, but still, it's a strong film. The first thing that caught my eye was the sparse dialogue. There's a lot of acting going on here, and not of the scenery-chewing variety (recent Pacino). The actors are given a lot of room to act with their eyes and bodies. You're not hit over the head with 2-D stock characters, although it may appear so at first. The story is genre: ex-con, returning to his New York borough neighborhood falls right into the same circles that got him in trouble in the first place. What follows is a story of corruption, redemption and family; structured almost as a Greek Tragedy. But quietly. There are no "good guys" or "bad guys", as almost everyone is on the make. The overall impression projected is that everyone is protecting their own and trying to succeed in a system that they live in - not one they created or control.

Mark Wahlberg isn't a great actor, but he delivers what the character requires. Charlize Theron isn't in her element playing a Queens-chick, but aside from a faltering accent, she does pretty well. Excellent acting is delivered by Joachin Phoenix, as well as veterans Caan, Dunaway, and Ellen Burstyn. The Yards is a good movie, although admittedly, not for the "average" movie-going audience. It likely won't meet their expectations of what a "good" movie is.

Joaquin Phoenix did well in 2000. An Oscar and Golden Globe nomination for Gladiator, a couple of nominations for Quills, and a Critics Choice Award for this film along with the other two. He put out some great performances that year, and this one should not be overlooked.

It shows the seedy underbelly of politics and city contracts, but it is more important in the study of friendship and how sometimes you can never really fit in.

Willie (Phoenix) and Leo (Mark Wahlberg) are friends, but when it comes down to the wire that friendship is expendable as Willie is trying to forget his Hispanic background and fit in with White power in the city. The fact that they are both in love with the same woman (Charlize Theron) also complicates things.

You never really know where this tragedy is going to end, but you can be sure that is will end tragically. The journey is made more interesting with characters played by James Caan and Faye Dunaway.

It is a trip worth taking for film noir lovers.

Not exactly, but somewhat in the "Godfather" genre' of story and cultural scenario, it's not really the sort of movie I would be inclined to become interested in, but the cast is so strong, I had to at least give it a shot.

Joaquin Phoenix and James Caan delivered their characters about as perfectly as could be done in the context of the story. Technically they were flawless, kudos to the casting director.

But . . . Charlize Theron . . . if for no other reason, watching her more than justified the time spent. Spectacularly beautiful, but well crafted to suit her character, she makes the film!

The actual story . . . well, it's predictable enough. Nothing surprising, no winding twists and turns, no really compelling complexities woven into this script. A snapshot of life, with its foibles of the human condition mapped against a well known cultural stereotype.

But if for no other reason than to watch Charlize at the absolute peak of her career, doing her thing as best as she's ever done, I might watch it again some time.

It is hard to understand why this film couldn't command better distribution than it did. It has a bankable cast, a strong story and a realistic presentation. It is a raw and dark story about corruption by contractors supplying the transit system in New York City. Parts of the story are all too familiar and the entire film is very Godfatheresque. However, while `The Godfather' glorified organized crime, this film gives a much grittier view of the dirty deals and conniving, stripped of the Hollywood veneer. That is precisely what I liked about it, and in all likelihood, it is the reason that it foundered on the market.

Leo Handler (Mark Wahlberg) is just returning home from prison on a car theft conviction when the movie opens. He is repentant and sincerely wants to go straight. The deck is stacked against him though, because everyone he knows other than his mother (Ellen Burstyn), aunt (Faye Dunaway) and cousin (Charlize Theron) is corrupt. Leo applies for a job with his uncle Frank (James Caan) who is a contractor supplying parts to the New York subway system. He is reunited with an old friend, Willie Gutierrez (Joaquin Phoenix) who is currently working for Frank. Willie is eyeball deep in shady deals including the sabotage of other suppliers. One night a sabotage mission goes wrong and Leo assaults a policeman while trying to escape the scene. A manhunt ensues and both the cops and Leo's uncle are trying to hunt him down. With sinister intent, Uncle Frank wants to find him first so he won't blow the lid on the crooked dealings.

The story, written and directed by James Gray, delves into various character studies that bog down at times. However, speaking as a person who once lived there, it is an excellent rendering of New York attitudes and mannerisms, and includes plenty of not-so-glamorous shots of New York's seething underbelly. This is a New Yorker's eye view of the city, far from the glitz of Broadway, Wall Street and the art galleries. It shows the competitiveness and machismo of a segment of society known only to the locals.

The acting by the ensemble cast is outstanding. All the players capture the essence of the New York middle class gestalt beautifully. Mark Wahlberg delivers a somber but resolute character trapped in a vortex of graft and corruption. His performance is understated yet powerful. James Caan is one of the best at playing the small-time racketeer and he nails it again with his portrayal of the dirty dealing supplier. Joaquin Phoenix also shines as Willie, giving him a macho personality and the ability to rationalize any act according to his own code of morality. The cast includes Faye Dunaway, Ellen Burstyn and Charlize Theron in strong supporting roles. Steve Allen makes an extended cameo as the tainted commissioner.

This film is excellent and has been sadly overlooked by the distributors and the public. I rated it a 9/10 despite a somewhat familiar storyline, because the presentation is so precise and the style so un-sanitized. The film has a real New York feeling to it, especially recognizable to anyone who has lived there. It has my vote for the sleeper of 2000.

The cast and acting in this crime/drama is great, but the actors are let down by a melodramatic script that is too busy. "The Yards" is a character-driven story, but the problem is that the script has too many subplots going on which doesn't give us the time we need to know and care about the characters. By the end I really didn't care what happened, because I didn't know the characters and didn't care how the plot was resolved.

Basically "The Yards" tells the story of Leo, a working class young man who returns home from a stint in prison to his ailing mother. His best friend, Willie, takes him on at Leo's step-uncle's subway train outfitting business, where things aren't exactly above-the-board. Leo gets more involved in the business and things go awry. And along the way, there's a hundred and one subplots.

This movie had some nice moments, and great acting, but it can't rise above a script that tries to pack too much plot into too little time.

Three years in prison and out on parole, attractive and muscular Mark Wahlberg (as Leo Handler) rides the New York City subway to his home in Queens. His mother and friends have a surprise "Welcome Home, Leo" party for Mr. Walberg, with his best pal Joaquin Phoenix (as Willie Gutierrez) and girlfriend Charlize Theron (as Erica Soltz) in attendance. Walberg's goal is to get a good job and stay out of trouble. Fat chance… You know when Walberg glances at a cop on the subway where this story is going. In this type of movie, the hapless hero is reluctantly drawn back into a life of crime. This usually begins when the star agrees to assist a friend's criminal activity – in a relative safe position, such as a "lookout" or driver. Then, something goes terribly wrong. A mother's heart is broken. The young men fight over the girl. Police are involved – and, if an officer gets hurt, there could be hell to pay...

"The Yards" may not have been the best title for this crime drama. It refers to New York City's railroad yards, where subway trains are maintained.

Written (with Matt Reeves) and directed by James Gray, the story follows very familiar tracks. Having characters play out a fairly predictable plot is not necessarily bad – but you do expect some significant deviations. The most striking may be that Ms. Theron's make-up and manners seem way too hip for her character and the setting. With blue-black shellac in his hair, Mr. Phoenix appears like the 1950s "Elvis". Wahlberg delivers moody doom well for Mr. Gray. There is good support from shady businessman James Caan (as Frank Olchin). He and Gray are obviously going from "On the Waterfront" to "The Godfather" in the scene where Mr. Caan discusses "business" with his associates. Ellen Burstyn is fine in a small part, but Faye Dunaway has nothing much to do in an even smaller role. Vegas-style singer Steve Lawrence (as Arthur Mydanick) is very effective. Harris Savides' photography is stylish.

"The Yards" is circulated with different edits. Thematically bracketing the opening, the "theatrical version" version is superior to the "director's cut".

****** The Yards (4/27/00) James Gray ~ Mark Wahlberg, Joaquin Phoenix, Charlize Theron, James Caan

"The Yards" invites you to taste corruption and to witness an imposed morality and then slyly allows you to resolve its escalating entanglements. It is a well-acted morality tale written and directed by James Gray that is as topical now as when the first bureaucrat accepted graft. Mark Wahlberg's Leo Handler character is a loser who seeks to redeem himself from the neglect of his sick mother and the evil he has done to others. If only his friends and relatives had similarly good intentions. The world he inhabits is a society with the unwritten code of conduct to never snitch or else pay the consequences. The best scene involves Leo as he nervously proceeds with his orders to kill the policeman who can finger him in the rail yard assault. Can he justify yet one more crime in order to maintain the good graces of his benefactors? Joaquin Phoenix's character, Willie, is perhaps the most tormented figure, having to choose between his high-minded intentions and his immoral survival instincts. He becomes less the controller and more the henchman of what others tell him to do. The excellent cast gives "The Yard" a true flavor of the perverse nature of favoritism from Faye Dunaway and James Caan to Ellen Burstyn and Charlize Theron (in a surprisingly youthful dark mascara look). However, Joan Allen would have added a harsher, more pessimistic visage to the sometimes inappropriately bubbly Burstyn. This film displays well how corruption commands people's lives and how hard it is to break out of that code of conduct.

I just saw The Yards a few days ago and although over all I thought it was a decent movie and I am a fan of Mark Wahlberg's, Mark was incredibly flat in the movie. The true story that really caught my interest was between Joaquin Phoenix and Charlize Theron, both Oscar winning actors who again can hold their own in a film and separate themselves from the rest. Does Joaquin play a great bad guy or what?

The film is about Mark who is a tough guy who just got out of prison for grand theft auto. He promises his mom, played by the great and under rated Ellen Burstyn, that he is going to shape up and be the son she truly deserves. But when he goes to James Cann and is denied a steady job due to lack of education, he takes up with Joaquin and gets into a whole bunch of trouble. Charlize plays Mark's cousin and Joaquin's fiancée, she defends Mark and therefore results in tragic consequences with Joaquin.

The film is over all pretty good, but not enough to really grab my attention. Like I said, the supporting cast really brings it home with this one. Mark really seemed like an amateur and stood no chance. Sorry, Mark.

7/10

"The Yards" tells of corruption in the New York commuter transit maintenance contract awards system. An attempt to vandalize trains to thwart a competitive bidder goes wrong and a metro worker is killed. Thus begins this plodding saga which showcases some excellent young and not-so-young actors. Although the film is technically well crafted and artistically okay, the sepia, subdued and oblique lighting, and underexposures are obvious and reminiscent of the Godfather series. The actors spend most of their time talking under their breath with deadpan, emotionless expressions, all designed to create a sense of importance about what is, by cinematic standards, a feeble story. To make matters worse, our hero, a putz played by Wahlberg, is an excon who gets out of jail and immediately gets into trouble again. His only redeeming quality seems to be he loves his mother; and we're supposed to be rooting for him?? This mildly entertaining flick's biggest flaw is the absence of any reason for the audience to care about any of the characters. The film is left open at the end with many lingering question marks. An ok flick, but over-rated.

Nice idea, but the director wanted to tell too much about everyone and not enough about one or two characters. Did we really know enough about Leo before he arrived home? Did his mother really need to have a heart condition? Was it necessary for Erica to give her step father the respect ala Godfather. Couldn't this have been her real father? Just too much in one film. Focus focus focus!

I would have liked to have issued a "7" to The Yards, because of its credible, accessible, taut story and excellent acting and cast, but the ending was lack-luster. The movie deserved a better ending than the unconvincing testimony of Wahlberg's character (Leo Handler) at the final scene's hearing. The over-all dreariness of the colors in the movie made it appear morose, as well. Contrast the endings and overall tones of The Yards with a similar story, Marked Man: In The Yards, a savvy, tough, recently-released man is dumb enough to get suckered in to a con game, even though he should know better and "wants to be a productive member of society"? In Marked Man, an escaped individual does everything in his power to stay alive and turn the tables on those responsible for the (new) crime he is being accused of. Both hypotheses are believable, but its a bit hard to swallow: the fact that Handler gets in over his head without ever showing any suspicion of the people he's associating with or the "work" to be done.

It seems that money is the only thing that really matters to him, despite what he says about personal industry. This makes the character hard to fully support. The colors that the director of The Yards chose to issue the film in are dark and dismal: There are no scenes of beauty. In Marked Man, there are many outdoor scenes, full of brightness and life. In the end of that movie, Roddy Piper's character skillfully and successfully persists in getting the goods on those responsible, clearing his name in the process. I would have liked to have seen a better ending for The Yards: Perhaps James Caan's character spilling the beans on the whole caper, just to take down his adversary, even if it means his incarceration, as well. Maybe he demands that some lenience be afforded to Handler (his nephew) as part of the deal. In any case, Handler would be going back to prison for assault and battery on a police officer, possibly conspiracy, and he only would have himself to blame. A more dynamic character for Chalize Theron would have given the story more texture and substance: Perhaps, with the help of Joaquin Phoenix's character and Handler, she steals important documents or recordings that implicate the top dogs in the flim-flam. Wahlberg's acting was a bit wooden and I'm not sure Phoenix has the chops to act alongside the great James Caan (and Ellen Burstyn). This is a good movie that would have done better with more dynamic female characters, better lighting and a novel ending.

One man's decision to turn around his life in a rush and another's rush to avoid having his life turned-around set the stage for this noir tragedy. We've seen these folks before in other movies, but we're still moved because we might have made worse choices still in their shoes.

Leo (Wahlberg's character) returns from prison to a great welcome home. He just wants to become a productive citizen again. His cousin's Erika (Theron) is dating his best friend, Willie (Phoenix), who's working for her step-dad, Frank (Caan). Frank wants Leo to take the high road towards a new life, but Willie's encouraging the low...and what young man can resist such temptation?

Although Leo, his Mom (Burstyn) and aunt (Dunaway), all want him to go straight, Leo can't see that Willie's way is more than a shade crooked. Before Leo gets a chance to really choose, Willie makes a choice that sends the families, the yards, and borough politics on a collision course. Each step along the way, folks make their prisoner's dilemma choices with disastrous results for all.

The film is shot dark, evoking the barely colorized films of the 50s and 60s, but clearly takes place within the last decade. The noir mood is held by the high quality of the acting (I don't usually like Wahlberg, but for once he doesn't get in the way of his natural charm). Writer/Director James Gray keeps us in the mood, spending just enough time letting us glimpse the hard choices that everyone makes...and to see why they choose poorly over and over again.

We want Leo to choose the clean life, but we can see why he doesn't (and why we might not in his shoes). We want Willie to walk away rather than act rashly, but we can see why he can't. We want Uncle Frank to do the right thing, but it's clear why he won't.

It's too bad that Gray had to ruin the ending with a been-there-done-that Hollywood ending. Mind you: he's done a better job than other corruption-and-politics movies, but it still feels a bit like a cop-out (you should pardon the expression).

Despite the ending, it's a great film. And you'll find yourself still thinking about Leo and company's choices for days afterward.

I rated this 8/10.

[If you don't like slow, moody, noirs, give this a pass.]

Absolutely phenomenal cast , let's just say you couldn't put that ensemble together today. 4 oscar winners, 2 oscar nominees and a stellar cast all around. Story was decent but not another goodfellas and I think Wahlberg's lack of experience shows and he was not able to carry the lead role I mean hexwas ok but 10 years later he would have jailed it. Charlize Theron is her normal self she actually gets better looking with age but she has a HUGE on screen presence. And come on the rest of the cast , dunaway, caan, burstyn, and Joaquin Phoenix is always a great scum bag/ villian but it's not acting for him hes just a creepy guy.

It is a tale that has been told before. Nothing really new here. The cast was very good. The production design was OK. Lighting and sound should have been better. I wonder about the choices the director made.

It is one thing to try to make a Noir film, but I was totally turned off by the hushed tones, and whispers. Conversations seemed to take place in echo chamber. As it continued to be unhearable, it became unwatchable.

If you have a quiet media room, then you might get more out of this than I did.

There are plenty of other crime dramas out there.

This poetic film appears to create a particular style to tell its story, it isn't a "ride" as people often describe films lately, it's an experience. Production values are exceptional, it's beautifully written, directed, shot and edited, gorgeously acted, featuring a first-rate performance by Mark Wahlberg.

Figuring it is from James Gray, who made "Little Odessa", I was expecting a gritty film about the underworld. But this film did not have too much of that. Instead, it was more into the political corruption going on and how it impacted the principle character's life and everyone around him that he loved. It wasn't too bad, but there was not much of the rawness of "Little Odessa". Near the movie's end, where all the politician and crooked businessmen just keeps on hiding their corruption, it left me with a bad taste on how politics are run and how cronyism continues on no matter what. But they had to throw in the ending, which seems to be a nice little wrap-up in order for people to walk away from it without the cynical feeling. I felt it became a letdown at that point.