Nonureva Really Surprised!

Tedfoldol everything you have heard about this movie is true.

Stoutor It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Bessie Smyth Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

Martin Bradley Another tale of family living and operating on the wrong side of the law. "he Yards" of the title are the railway yards in Queens and James Caan is the crooked and corrupt operative who supplies the rolling stock, bribing the city officials in the process. 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). There's a depth here rare in a film of this kind. 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. Do yourself a favour and seek it out; you won't be disappointed.

bkoganbing Over the course of his career Mark Wahlberg has emerged as the working man's image on the big screen. He certainly comes by that naturally with his background being born and raised in the Dorchester section of Boston. His best performances on screen in my opinion have been of ordinary people and their situations. In The Yards he gives one of his best performances and his Boston accent barely shows.The Yards refers to the place where the New York City subway cars are housed and maintained. There are several in the city and the action here takes place in the Sunnyside section of Queens. 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. He can also go the trade school route. But Wahlberg's mother Ellen Burstyn is in a bad way and he's needing money now. Another tragedy of our inadequate health system. Rather than repair subway cars, Wahlberg goes to work with his old running buddy Joaquin Phoenix who works for Caan on the side wrecking the work of other contractors, minority contractors who get a set quotient of work.But one night Wahlberg is caught by a cop whom he turns the tables on, takes his nightstick and clubs him leaving him in a coma. At the same time Phoenix has a quarrel with yardmaster at night and knifes him to death. No one suspects him, but there's a bullseye on Wahlberg's back with every cop in the city hunting him.The manure piles up big time in this one, even threatening the Queens Borough President Steve Lawrence. 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. The Yards should be seen back to back with the Al Pacino film City Hall for a real look at New York's political underbelly.

LeonLouisRicci Gloomy, soft spoken, and bare this story about corruption and its effect on Family and Friend relationships maybe too low key and laid back for mass appeal. It does offer a Name Cast and a slightly inaccurate Mob Boss attraction but this one is quite different than most.The Film is about character and stylish confrontations and wise(guy) cracking Characters are nowhere around this slow of pace, but tense, Noirish Melodrama. The best parts here are interpersonal relationships and responsibility put to the test in some gripping set pieces.The Movie does fail to completely render its Political uncovering and City Hall money grubbing. Those scenes feel less recovered and tend to stultify the pace. It is this weak exposition that keeps the better parts from becoming fully engaging and some of its themes a bit unclear.

himbletony I had to move pretty quickly when this movie first came out. In spite of strong reviews, I guessed it wouldn't be around for long (in recent times, think of the wonderful Tabu, which in spite of ecstatic reviews, totally bombed in the UK). It was good that I caught it and I did not regret it. This is more than a story of corruption and redemption, it is also an amazing mood piece. The fact that so many quality stars were involved in this film tells you how impressed they were by the script and by the vision of director James Gray. I think the slow ratcheting of tension was beautifully done, not at all boring. In some ways it reminded me of "On the Waterfront", which I also love and was as much about character as plot. Yes, it is THAT good.