Review of The Yards (2000) by Walter M — 04 Oct 2005

[font=Century Gothic]In [/font][font=Century Gothic]"The Yards", Leo(Mark Wahlberg) has just recently been paroled from prison for a crime unspecified to his native environs of Queens. He turns to his uncle Frank(James Caan) who owns a subway repair shop for a job. Frank suggests Leo enter a 2-year training program to become a machinist but with a mother to support and too proud to accept handouts, Leo decides to instead work with his buddy, Willie(Joaquin Phoenix) and other "suits" that work to ensure backroom deals and other forms of corruption. And then something goes very, very wrong...[/font].

The first thing I noticed about "The Yards" is its cast - Wahlberg(never better), Caan, Phoenix, Charlize Theron, Faye Dunaway and Ellen Burstyn - might seem at first a little too Hollywood for this small-scale story about corruption, politics, loyalty and changing times, but everybody involved does a wonderful job. The movie is certainly well-photographed. But the deliberate pacing leads to a lack of drama in a rather confouding climax. And a subplot involving Theron's character is never fully explored.