Writer/director James Gray tells the story with an impressive urban palate.
The Yards (2000)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:85
Fresh:55
Rotten:30
Average Rating:6/10
Consensus: Featuring strong performances and direction, The Yards is a richly textured crime thriller with an authentic feel.
Synopsis: Director James Gray's second film is a dark and atmospheric exploration of the corruption that lies underneath both the surface of a New York City railway manufacturing company and the family that... Director James Gray's second film is a dark and atmospheric exploration of the corruption that lies underneath both the surface of a New York City railway manufacturing company and the family that runs it. Mark Wahlberg turns in an impressive and quietly intense performance as Leo, a 24-year-old who has just been released from prison and is in need of a job. Leo gets a job working for his uncle Frank (James Caan) in the railway business, where his best friend, Willie (Joaquin Phoenix), shows him how to bribe politicians by day and sabotage the competition's work by night. Almost immediately Leo and Willie run into trouble when they go down to the railway yards to damage their competitor's work. Leo is soon on the run, hunted for a murder that Willie committed. Gray's THE YARDS shows the obvious influence of Francis Ford Coppola's seminal GODFATHER films as he emphasizes that his characters inhabit two worlds, one that follows the shifting morality of their businesses, the other centering around traditional family life. Aided immeasurably by its outstanding cast, stylish visual sense, and a lush, dissonant score, THE YARDS is a gripping and intensely moving film that fully lives up to its own ambitions. [More]
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Joaquin Phoenix, James Caan, Charlize Theron
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Joaquin Phoenix, James Caan, Charlize Theron, Ellen Burstyn, Faye Dunaway, Steve Lawrence
Director: James Gray
Director: James Gray
Screenwriter: James Gray, Matt Reeves
Producer: Nick Wechsler, Paul Webster, Kerry Orent
Composer: Howard Shore
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Reviews for The Yards
Collapses into a weary catalog of crime-movie cliches and political impossibilities.
The Yards may not have enough story to sustain its narrative momentum, but Gray just might be our best shot at a new Coppola.
Things in The Yards become so hard to swallow that even the most easygoing movie-goers will find it hard to suspend disbelief.
Never envelops the audience in the deep tenor and rich realism of its sullied world.
There's an old-fashioned steadiness that reminds me a bit of the old James Cagney pictures. And that sort of thing still works pretty well.
The film's intense realism has a transcendent quality that makes it feel -- dare I say it? -- almost Shakespearean in the depth and scope of its commentary on the human condition.
Understatement is something that one would not normally associate with such a pulpy tale, but that's what makes Gray's film surprisingly effective.
Even if The Yards is no masterpiece by association, it still features two galvanizing young actors at the top of their game.
The comparisons gang up on the movie. This is a fair crime story but nowhere a great family crime story.
Remarkable for the way in which every character has more than one side.
This deliberately paced (to put it politely) drama, rarely kicks into high gear.
Glory in a terrific cast playing a Lumet-inspired tune straight off the streets of the Big Apple.
Latest News for The Yards
January 16, 2008:
Charlize Theron Joins The Road's Gang
The Coen brothers' adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's No Country for Old Men has been a mainstay on critics' year-end best-of lists -- but that film's success was only part of an... More...
May 20, 2007:
Cannes: James Gray's "We Own the Night" Sold To Columbia
Columbia Pictures has purchased the North American rights for James Gray’s "We Own the Night" for $11.5 million, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The film,... More...
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