Customer Reviews

The Yards (Director's Cut) (Miramax Collector's Series)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(15)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Director James Gray has elicited some marvelous performances from a really eclectic cast: Oscar winners Ellen Burstyn and Faye Dunaway play domestic characters with the professional verve they always bring; Oscar nominees Charlize Theron, James Caan and Joaquin Phoenix are superb in their roles as Wahlberg's cousin, best friend and uncle-in-law; and then we have Mark Wahlberg, Steve Lawrence and Tony Musante rounding out the cast. This is Wahlberg's shining moment; he has none of the macho bravado usually associated with him, and his performance is complex, multi-faceted and courageous. Caan is also brilliant, and someday he'll get the Oscar he deserves. Phoenix also shows great emotional depth in his role as a borderline sociopath. Theron proves that she is not just a pretty face, but a capable and engaging actress. The film's slow pace is in line with the psychological nuances of the film. I'd never heard of it until I saw a trailer on another video. An outstanding film. Highly recommended.

After spending time in prison for auto theft, Leo (Mark Wahlberg), decides it's time to go the straight and narrow.

Returning home from prison, Leo, takes a job at his uncle Frank's (James Caan) company working on contracts with the New York City subway system.

Once on the job, Leo, meets his uncle's top guy (Joaquin Phoenix), and before long, he realizes his uncle is involved with corruption, and payoffs.

"The Yards" is a gritty drama that sports an excellent cast;Mark Wahlberg, Joaquin Phoenix, Charlize Theron, James Caan, Ellen Burstyn, and Faye Dunaway. Although, slowly paced, the film puts a smart, and interesting spin on big city corruption. Very much a character driven film, "The Yards" will disappoint those looking for fast action. But anyone looking for an intelligent, well acted movie will be pleased with this one.

Nick Gonnella

After LITTLE ODESSA in 1994, THE YARDS is quite an impressive second movie of american writer/director James Gray who plays in the same league than Martin Scorsese, Francis Coppola or Sidney Lumet. Furthermore, James Gray has given two important roles to James Caan and Ellen Burstyn and a choice like this can only be made by a clever and talented person. If you are not so fond of Ridley Scott's bodybuilt gladiators, try for a change a movie with more brains than muscles. In the long run, it gives more satisfaction.

THE YARDS is a movie about ambiguity, a mood created firstly by the images of the movie, cold and almost metallic for the exterior scenes but warm and always red, brown or yellow for the interior scenes. This antagonism is also underlined by the recurrent theme of the electric lights which suddenly plunge the characters in a black no-man's land several times during the course of the movie.

James - Frank Olchin - Caan is the most ambiguous character of the movie. He may appear as a rotten businessman ready to corrupt anything that has power at times but can also develop a "Don Corleone" à la Brando attitude when trying to protect his family. Superb job from James Caan. Mark - Leo Handler - Wahlberg is also not a straight character and one important scene of the movie confirms this point. After having been abandoned by his pairs, he's ready to join the enemy and crucify his former friends.

THE YARDS is smart, beautifully filmed and has a superb cast. Why not try this Miramax DVD ? It offers a - for once - interesting behind the screen featurette, seven or eight extra-trailers, a commentary by James Gray, a french dubbed version and a gallery of paintings that has influenced James Gray for the special lightning of the movie.

A DVD zone your library.

I've wanted to see this movie for such a long time. I'm pretty sure that this film was limited in release because even when it was out I couldn't find any theater within 50 miles that was playing it...it must have been one of those LA/NY movies. So, when "The Yards" finally became rentable at Blockbuster I made it my mission to get a copy. I had to see this film (Joaquin is in it!).

Anyway, to the review: I liked this movie. I wasn't really sure what decade it was supposed to take place in and that kinda distracted me-- the cars seemed pretty modern but the music, houses, furniture, and even some of the clothes were hard to judge. I'll just assume that it takes place "in the now" but I don't think it really matters...it just bugged me. The acting was good but nothing phenomenal, I guess I just expect good stuff from these actors. The casting was pretty typical-- Mark Wahlberg (baby faced tough guy ...), Charlize Theron (weepy girlfriend, except she has ... greasy black hair and wears lots of black eyeliner in this...it's an interesting change of look for her), and Joaquin Phoenix (bad guy with good intentions).

The story is based around the character Leo, played by Marky-Mark (oops, I mean Mark Wahlberg...so sorry). Leo just got out of prison; he wants to start a new life as a "productive member of society" so he looks for a job at his Uncle Frank's (James Caan) rail repair yard where his best friend Willie (Joaquin Phoenix) works. Willie takes Leo under his wing and shows him the ropes of the rail repair industry. Everything is looking good for Leo until he learns more about what Willie's job entails-- blackmail, "favors", vandalism, sabotage, and ultimately murder. Almost exactly the same moment when Leo realizes that what Willies does is illegal, things start to fall apart in a major way-- after an unfortunate turn of events, Leo ends up being the prime suspect for a murder he did not commit and is forced to be "on the run".

Poor Leo doesn't know what to do or who to turn to...the police want him for murder and his Uncle wants him because he knows too much about the illegal dealing of his rail repair company. Leo must decide between doing what's right and betraying his family or taking the fall for a murder and going back to prison for life. That's the main plot and that's all I'm saying....if I told you anymore you wouldn't need to see the film.

Recommendation: "The Yards" has a good plot line and is well acted. If you're going to buy it or rent it make sure you snag the DVD, it's got lots of extra stuff on it like director's commentary and behind-the-scenes/makings of footage. It's basically an organized crime family type of movie but not quite...I guess if you like "The Godfather" and other mafia related films you'll like this. If you like Mark Wahlberg you'll like this film. If you like Joaquin Phoenix you'll definitely like this film...you'll probably even buy it like I did! :)

Ten minutes into the film I was drawn into the noirish pace and presentation, and a theme of how inconvenient life is when someone who's tainted as an ex-convict wants to straighten himself out. The feeling of paranoia is well achieved, partly because of the brooding score and very well-toned cinematography.

But what kills the movie is its derivative story -- the strinking semblance to Godfather, City Hall, Heat, James Caan's own The Thief, and about a hundred other crime capers is hard to overlook. To make matters worse, the plot is also sloppily constructed such that it can't resolve itself without losing its grip on the tension that it creates.

James Caan is sharp as he brings his snakey charm into the role, come to think of it, all actors do very well to maintain the general grit, including a power-crazed Joaquin Phoenix and the good-hearted criminal Wahlberg.

But about halfway through the movie the denouement already peeped out, making the rest of the proceedings merely a formality. Probably a decent rental for anyone who likes crime procedurals with family businesses going over the top in tandem with public officials, but not exactly an astounding achievement in cinema.

Anyone who wants to see the complex characters with superb acting should watch this film. If you are just interested in suspense, you just get bored and we won't blame you for that.

"The Yards" is certainly gloomy and dismal. Its story is very slow, and in essence is never friendly to audience. It deals with corruption in politics, business, and even human relationships in a relentless way. Still, to me, what the film is trying to do should be considered admirable, and what it tells is worth our attention -- "How far are we allowed do to survive?"

"The Yard" is about our moral as human, and inevitably the film is too serious for us to simply enjoy watching it, as I said. It's like "City Hall" without its detective story element. I also thought of "The Godfather" while watching it (James Caan in both films), and this feeling is not surprising, considering the serious subject matter about your fatal decision that changes your life forever.

However, I must say several negative things about "The Yard." Though it is filled with first-rate cast from veterans (it's always a welcome thing for me to watch the veteran Victor Argo) and newcomers like Mark Wahlberg and Joaquin Phoenix, and their performance is all perfect, the development of the story is sometimes contrived (for example, the double assaults on the Sunnyside Yard, the railroad yard) and the ending is a little predictable. The good location helps, but the photograghy capturing its dark atomosphere, though I thought it fabulous, may cause some people to fall asleep. And perhaps, the way the female characters are depicted may be off-putting, because all three key females in film suffer not a little from various reasons. Fans of Charlize Theron should especially be warned as she plays a role whose relationship with Joaquin Phoenix becomes kind of torture.

"The Yards" is overall a superb work, but too dark and heavy for fans in general.

A couple of good performances and some mediocre ones. That is why this is not a stand out movie. It is certainly worth seeing this movie about the train yards of New York, but it doesn't quite reach that point of excelling. The story is not fast paced and you must be patient with the movie along the way. In the end though I think you will say not bad, just not great. Wahlberg turns in a decent performance as does Phoenix, Theron, and Caan, but none of them made me feel I cared what happened to them. This shows the underbelly of the corruption in some companies trying to win contracts and political influence as well. A good drama when you don't mind a slower pace. Good quality DVD with some replayability. If you enjoyed this catch "The Departed" and "Brooklyn Rules".

CA Luster

This film speaks of depth and incredibly complex characters (which can be a good thing, because we're all complex people, and we can sympathize with them). The music is perfect for the film, with light and airy strings with the capibility to become heartbreaking, changing the mood but still complimenting the story properly.

The film stars Mark Wahlberg [as Leo] the quiet, poor boy from the bronx who gets out of prison for taking the rap for an auto-theft he and some of his friends didn't quite pull off. His best friend Willie [played by Joaquin Phoenix] is charazmatic, with a secured job in a train businesses, he's finally making money and establishing a foundation for himself and his girlfriend Erika (Charlize Theron). The Yards is what I consider a tragety, people pulled and suckered into bad events, sinking into a quicksand trap of misery not by the choices they make but by their enviornment and the people around them.

Incredible cast, and excellent story. The only real down point is that it, at some points, seems to drag. However, this is an excellent film because of the manner it is shot in, no flair no side plots, using old godfather style film techniques that make the actors almost like they've been made on an artist's canvas.

The movie almost seemed like a docudrama. I've been wondering whether or not the film is based on actual events. It's definitely a character piece even though the characters are very stereotypical. That being said however, it is extremely well acted and honest. Plus the fact that the direction is very low key only added to the genuiness of the film.

And like other viewers had commented, I also thought that the plot development was pretty predictable (except for the ending which took a couple of surprising turns) but who cares. It was engaging to see the drama play out.

Not a puchase or a divine creation but definitely intelligent and dramatic.

Potboilers such as these are like lasagna. Real easy to make, but real easy to screw up. This is a pretty good romp.

Here's the scoop. Wahlberg is fresh out of prison on a grand theft auto rap. He wants to go straight and get into his "uncle's" train manufacturing business but things aren't so easy. Uncle, however, has a guy (Phoenix) who handles certain "business" aspects for him. Wahlberg goes out with him one night on business and things go way South. Now Wahlberg is in a deep hole with seemingly no way out. Will he prevail?!

I liked this movie a lot. It sports a great cast, all of whom do a fine job, and it's a good storyline. Much of the power in the story derives from the relationships of all the characters. The one crucial incident sets up a domino effect that seems to go on and on. As a result this doesn't appear contrived. All the incidents have a more natural flow. I really wanted to know how these things would play themselves out. I had serious doubts as to whether or not the film makers could pull this off. For my money they did. There was one part of the resolve I could have done without but overall I was satisfied.

All the production aspects are very good. It's acted well, shot well, (it has a look similar to "The Godfather") and a decent musical score. Though maybe this isn't great film art it's still a solid effort. If you like crime dramas this should be right up your alley.