The Yards (2000)

User Rating:

6.3/10   

Director:

James Gray

Writers (WGA):

James Gray (written by) &
Matt Reeves (written by)

Release Date:

27 April 2000 (Singapore)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

There's nothing more dangerous than an innocent man.

Plot:

In the rail yards of Queens, contractors repair and rebuild the city's subway cars. These contracts are lucrative...

Plot Keywords:

Contractor | Subway | Corruption | Railroad Yard | Politician

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Mark Wahlberg	...	Leo Handler
Joaquin Phoenix	...	Willie Gutierrez
Charlize Theron	...	Erica Soltz
James Caan	...	Frank Olchin
Ellen Burstyn	...	Val Handler
Faye Dunaway	...	Kitty Olchin
Steve Lawrence	...	Arthur Mydanick
Andy Davoli	...	Raymond Price (as Andrew Davoli)
Tony Musante	...	Seymour Korman
Victor Argo	...	Paul Lazarides
Tomas Milian	...	Manuel Sequiera
Robert Montano	...	Hector Gallardo
Victor Arnold	...	Albert Granada
Chad Aaron	...	Bernard Soltz
Louis Guss	...	Nathan Grodner

MPAA:

Rated R for language, violence and a scene of sexuality.

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

USA:Unrated (2005 DVD Directors Cut) | Iceland:16 | Singapore:NC-16 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Denmark:15 | France:U | Germany:12 | Netherlands:12 | Norway:15 | Peru:14 | South Korea:15 | Spain:13 | UK:15 | USA:R (PCA #37362) | Finland:K-15

Filming Locations:

Bronx, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Miramax Films

Trivia:

For Leo's and Willie's fight, the actors agreed to actually fight each other. Although they wore knee and elbow pads, everything on screen is actually Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg beating each other up. There are no stunts and the entire thing was taken in two takes from three different angles. The next day, the actors were black and blue.

Goofs:

Continuity: The pearl handled pistol that Frank Olchin removes from his sock drawer was sitting on his desk in the study, the room he just left.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Beantown (2007)

Soundtrack:

Saturn

Thoroughly enjoyable, but only Joaquin Phoenix was remarkable

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.