The Yards

Plot synopsis:
Leo Handler (Mark Wahlberg) rides the subway to his mother's house in Queens, New York, where she throws a surprise party in honor of his parole. His cousin Erica (Charlize Theron) is at the party with her boyfriend Willie Gutierrez (Joaquin Phoenix). Willie takes Leo aside and thanks him for serving time in prison, implying that Leo had taken a fall for their gang of friends.
Leo is eager to find a job to support his mother (Ellen Burstyn), who has a heart condition. Willie suggests working for Erica's stepfather Frank Olchin (James Caan).
The next day, at the railway car repair company Frank owns, Leo is encouraged to enter a 2-year machinist program and Frank offers to help finance his studies. Needing to work right away, Leo asks about working with Willie for the company but Frank discourages that idea. Leo is advised by Willie not to worry about it, saying Frank tried to get him into a machinist program as well.
At Brooklyn Borough Hall, Willie explains how corrupt the contract system is for repair work on the subway. After a hearing to award contracts, Willie is approached by Hector Gallardo (Robert Montano) about leaving Frank's firm for his. Willie brushes him off, taking Leo with him to Roosevelt Island, where he bribes an official in charge of awarding contracts.
One night, Willie takes Leo to a rail yard, where he and a gang sabotage the work of Gallardo's firm in order to lower their quality rating and lessen their ability to get contracts. Leo is told to stand watch while the crew sabotages the train couplings. Willie heads into the yard master's office to pay him off with Knicks tickets, but is told to get his crew off the tracks, Gallardo having brought him $2,000 in cash. The yard master sounds the alarm, which draws a police officer. Terrified of returning to jail, Leo tries to run. When the cop begins to hit Leo with his night stick, Leo beats him into unconsciousness. As he runs off, he sees Willie kill the yard master.
With the cop in a coma at a hospital, the crew tells Leo that he must murder the officer to prevent him from identifying Leo when he wakes up. If the cop lives, Leo's the one who will be killed. Leo flees. When the cop awakes, he identifies Leo as his attacker, triggering a broad manhunt. The police assume Leo is also responsible for the yard master's murder. When they raid his mother's apartment, she has a heart attack, leaving her in an even weaker state.
Even though Willie has told him to lay low, Leo emerges from hiding to visit his sick mother. Erica is tending to her. She finds out Willie was with him at the yards and realizes it was Willie who actually killed the yard master. She breaks off their engagement.
Erica implores her stepfather Frank to help, but instead Leo realizes that Frank is prepared to kill him. Out of options, Leo turns to Gallardo for protection. With Gallardo's lawyers at his side, Leo turns himself in at a public hearing into the rail yard incident and contract corruption. Realizing that the injured cop's testimony against Leo is in no one's interest, Frank and Gallardo negotiate a new split of the contracts with the Queens Borough President (Steve Lawrence) in a backroom deal.
After being disowned by Frank and unsuccessfully trying to accept a deal offered to him earlier by Gallardo for protection, which Leo had already accepted, unbeknownst to Willie, Willie goes to see Erica, trying to win her back. Frank has told him that Erica and Leo had been in love when they were younger, and once were caught having sex. Fearful of his temper and jealousy, Erica triggers the silent house alarm. Willie tries to embrace her, but as she pulls away, he accidentally throws Erica off the second floor landing, causing her to fall to her death. Outside the house, he surrenders to the police, who have responded to the alarm, and cries in remorse and guilt for Erica's death as he is cuffed and taken away.
Police enter the hearing to inform Erica's mother Kitty (Faye Dunaway) and stepfather Frank of the incident at the house, and the discovery of Erica's body.
After his stepdaughter's funeral, Frank takes Leo aside to promise help in the future. After turning away in muted disgust, Leo joins the grieving Kitty and the rest of the family in an embrace of support. Leo then leaves Queens on the elevated train.
(Note: A non-director's cut of the film ended with Leo testifying against Frank and his company, rejecting the deal. The version currently available on the Miramax DVD in the US is the director's cut.)

Tags: romantic, murder

Review:
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.
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.
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).
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).
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.
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..
Or, more likely, if the painting weren't so excellently rendered, you wouldn't be able to point out the scarf, or the squirrel, or any of the finer details.Like this painting, we have "The Yards," a story centering on Leo Handler (Wahlberg), freshly released from prison and trying to look after himself and his mother.
Although the cinematography certainly nods towards Coppolla's epic, particularly the dark brooding interiors, this is a less self-consciously grandiose drama, more an intimate study in betrayal.The chief protagonist is Leo Handler (Mark Wahlberg) a young man returning home after a spell in prison.
As is obligatory in such tales, he is intent on going straight, but finds himself lured by his smooth-operating buddy Willie Gutierrez (Joaquin Phoenix) into the semi-legitimate business operations of his step-uncle Frank Olchin (James Caan).Frank is finding it increasingly tough to win subway contracts, due to competition from rival Hispanic firms, who are being aided by preferential treatment policies for minorities.
Nepotism and friendship soon evaporate when their is a murder to be explained, and Leo must fend for himself if he is not to take the fall.The film provides an intriguing look into a sordid and incestuous community in which family and business interests intertwine, with connections, favours and dirty tricks being the accepted way of getting things done.
Without him in The Yards, the movie wouldn't have gone anywhere even though Mark, Faye, James and Charlize did well in their performances.
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.
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).
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.
Maybe Gray does organize the filming of it a bit conventionally, and maybe the script is a little orthodox, but it's the actual story of The Yards that makes it truly a great film about the decadence of a once-happy family.
I think that overall, Gray's directing is very professionally done, and even though the way it begins and ends may not seem very original, the actual story of the film, in my opinion, is very original and witty..
While director James Gray's "Little Odessa" focused on ethnic crime in Brooklyn (specifically Russians in Brighton Beach, for Tim Roth's best performance 'til that time), "The Yards" is Queens par excellence.While the lack of NYC accents causes a bit of suspended belief, the strong acting and devastating screenplay by Gray and Matt Reeves more than compensate.The depiction of NYC corruption is heads and tails above Sidney Lumet's "City Hall," here with demonstrations of how family and ethnicity get very intermingled in NYC politics.
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.
Those who like their films incredibly dreary, with most of the cast mumbling or whispering their lines, will revel in the mind-numbingly tedious film that is The Yards.Wahlberg is as wooden as he usually is (and sports his trademark 'bad hair'), and the rest of the cast do the best they can with the script, but lets face it, with a topic as scintillating as this, they never really stood much of a chance, did they?If I were to write any more about this movie, it would be a waste of my time and yours..
Charlize Theron shows some of the skill that would eventually lead to an Oscar as the naïve cousin caught in a family of liars and cheaters, never knowing who she can really turn to for help, and Faye Dunaway brings a nice performance, in a small role, culminating into a heart-wrenching final moment with Wahlberg at the ending funeral, so perfect in its simplicity and a great culmination of everything that has gone on.I must conclude with some props to the director as well.
Having become a huge fan of Joaquin Phoenix after seeing his wonderful performance in 'Gladiator' I eagerly awaited to see his next film The Yards, and was not disappointed with it one bit.
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.
The Yards, through its magical use of music, powerhouse acting (even virtual bit-parts are filled by Faye Dunaway and Ellen Burstyn) and lingering, deliberate camera-work, particularly concerning characters' faces, is a triumph of mood over plot.
Some brilliant acting, James Caan was brilliant as Mark Wahlbergs corrupt Uncle, He was kind but still sometimes quite scary, is a threatening kinda way.
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.
In the independent cinema,there's a space for expressing ideas and conflicts by an excellent work of screenplay,brilliant performances and great direction.The yards is an independent movie which has all of that things.Director James Gray never goes by the easy way in showing the glamour of crime and he never shows the characters as anti-heroes trapped by the circumstances.Gray shows characters 100% human without villains or heroes.The violence is not cool:it's real and the consequences do not have an escape.Mark Wahlberg brings an excellent performanes,but Joaquin Phoenix steals the show.He makes a brilliant performance on every movie he participates(including this one,obviously).The only fail I found on this movie is that the ending resolves the conflict very easily.But I can excuse that fail when the movie is so good like this one.The yards is a very competent noir movie which tells a simple but deep story..
The characters were presented as they might easily appear in real life.The story line is of Leo (Wahlberg) who just gets out of prison on parole and looks to his uncle (Caan) to get a job so he can support himself and his mom.
THE YARDS (2000) **1/2 Mark Wahlberg, Joaquin Phoenix, James Caan, Charlize Theron, Ellen Burstyn, Faye Dunaway, Victor Argo, Steve Lawrence, Andrew Davoli, Tony Musante, Tomas Milian.Cross-section of 'On The Waterfront' and 'Cop Land' urban rot and corruption drama that reeks of a Sydney Lumet melodrama: Wahlberg is a recently released con who winds up neck deep in trouble with self-made businessman Caan and his loose cannon lieutentant and Wahlberg's best friend Phoenix which leads to murder, double-crossing and ultimately redemption at a severe cost.
Excellent cast goes through the motions in this overly familiar terrain of gangsters and a plot line lifted from any James Cagney Warner Bros.' flick/morality play (which is not an insult).What the film lacks in originality makes up with fine turns by all especially Phoenix whose dark side gets the best of him.
Although well paced and featuring top talents such as Mark Whalberg, Charlize Theron and Joaquin Pheonix this James Gray directed film falls short.
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.
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.
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.
Unfortunately, the people I was working with didn't listen and didn't get the job, which I think is still going to this day.The Yards is a very good, modern crime drama that gives some insight into a world most people know little about, the big time awarding of public contracts in Eastern urban centers.
This is not a flashy story about car chases and big explosions, because usually things like that have nothing whatsoever to do with organized crime or professional criminals, the guys who get hired to torch failing restaurants or factories, or in this case, to wreck some subway cars to help somebody win a contract.The film should be seen for this reason alone.It should also be viewed to see some very first rate acting all around.
Hats off to Mark Wahlberg and Jauquin Phoenix as the two young punks caught up in this world, and to Ellen Bursten, Faye Dunaway, James Caan and even Steve Lawrence (yes, that Steve Lawrence) playing either concerned parents or corrupt public officials trying to protect their own.Also, hats off to director James Gray for both his part in the script and his work behind the camera.
Excellent acting from a fine young cast - Wahlberg, Theron and Phoenix as well as from a few old veterans - James Caan, Burstyn and Dunaway.
The performances are uniformly strong, with James Caan, Charlize Theron and Mark Wahlberg particularly effective; and what director James Gray has done with Joaquin Phoenix,  is nothing less than astonishing.
James Gray working for the third time with Whalberg,chose to give the best part to Phoenix.After collaborating in Fear(1996) and The Corrupter(1999),filmmaker Gray reunites with Whalberg to turn up quite an exeptional little drama ,aquiring great performances from Phoenix,Caan,Theron and Bursting but when came time for Whalberg to act he turned a dull,forgettable performance.Still,if you liked Grey's At Close Range(1985) don't miss The Yards..
It requires real work on the part of the audience which then has the reward of leaving the theater knowing that they have had to exercise their brains, been touched in their emotions, and will have memories of how corruption and greed affected the lives of several true-to-life characters.Those who go to the theater expecting to sit passively and watch explosions, special effects, mind boggling dialogue that expresses nothing should confine themselves to the exploitation films that are among us every week.But for those who want in cinema what they find in Opera, music, and reading of fine literature will see this movie as a work of art.
Now it is on, though, and it was well worth the wait.The film concentrates on ex-convict Leo (Mark Wahlberg), a pretty dumb (`I'm not too good with words') but normal member of the Handler family, a family that includes his longtime friend Willie Gutierrez (Joaquin Phoenix), cousin Erica (Charlize Theron) and corrupt Uncle Frank (James Caan), the latter being head of the company that controls most of the NY railways.
There are elements of The Godfather, of course, and like all these films, the story is one of a whole family caught up in the dirty business of, no, not narcotics or booze, but the slightly less illustrious world of control over the New York subway.
The narrative structure is pretty classic, but the film has all the things that, taken together, make up a great movie: subtle script, superb performances, music, lighting, editing etc.
All the cast put in strong performances, particularly James Caan and Faye Dunaway (one of the few times she hasn't turned to her cheekbones for support).Themes of the film are skilfully emphasised by the director's use of light, in particular where Leo is sent in to kill the policeman.
There are other, similar examples all through the film.I would say from watching this that James Gray has got at least one truly great movie in him.
the yards may suffer from a script that isn't as original as it is supposed to be,but some really great piece of acting from mark wahlberg and the rest of the cast gives a great force to the movie.
There are a ton of better organized crime dramas out there and this one is only taking a retarded pot shot at a genre it is too clumsily slow and stupid to dominate.This is a dull minded script that bears no resemblance to entertainment, drama, or reality so it fails at hitting whatever it was trying to accomplish.There are a couple of places in the movie where the plot picks up a bit and I woke up and was like- oh yeah, they were saving something good for the end yayyyy...
Other various family members include Mark Wahlberg and Joaquin Phoenix, Ellen Burstyn and Faye Dunaway and Charlize Theron while singer Steve Lawrence turns up as one of the corrupt officials.
When a strong-arm operation goes wrong, ending in a killing, things go downhill very quickly for everyone concerned.On the surface, James Gray's movie might read like any other crime drama but this magnificent film is much more complex and intelligent and the relationships between the characters are beautifully delineated and totally believable, (even a fight sequence looks like the kind of fight that would happen in real life and not in the movies).
Superbly written by Gray and co-scenarist Matt Reeves and brilliantly acted by everyone, (Wahlberg is particularly good), "The Yards" has all the makings of a bona-fide American classic and is certainly one of the best American films of the last 20 years and yet it wasn't really that big a success and today is virtually forgotten.
Mark Wahlberg is a young man who recently was released from jail having taken a rap for all of his friends involved in a crime.He wants badly to turn over a new leaf and his uncle James Caan who has a business maintaining the subway cars offers him work.
How it all works out is a typical New York City story.Big Kudos for Mark Wahlberg in this one and some recognition for Joaquin Phoenix playing another one who gets in way over his head.
There's a stretch of about ten minutes in the first act of this film during which it looks like it's going to try to present a realistic picture of corruption in business, which could've been pretty interesting.
This is the kind of movie that feels like it's at least 1/3 padding; Charlize Theron in particular has almost no reason to be in the movie other than to provide "emotional" moments that I think are supposed to be some kind of "character development." All the pointless go-nowhere scenes aren't helped by the general lack of interesting dialogue or (despite a decent cast that is mostly solid) performances.
The rest of the cast includes people like Faye Dunaway, James Caan, Charlize Theron, and Joaquin Phoenix.
The acting is superb during this film especially from Mark Whalberg ,James Caan and Joaquin Phoenix who make this film very watchable which is important because it is a little long considering the story.
Unfortunately, he's pulled into the underworld of the business and ends up on the run, suspected of assaulting a police officer and murdering a yard worker.I say this movie has a dark plot because of the sidelines along the way: Wahlberg's relationship with his mother, Caan's roll as the sub contractor (seems like he's trying to revive his role in "The Godfather") and the relationship between Theron's dark character and just about everyone in the movie, except maybe her step-father (Caan).Although practically unknown at the time, the cast has more promise in them than what I felt was shown in this film.
I don't doubt that it was better than Mark Wahlberg's next movie (the very unnecessary "Planet of the Apes" remake), but he and co-stars Joaquin Phoenix, Charlize Theron, James Caan and Faye Dunaway have all done much better than this.