Themes: Political Corruption, Miscarriage of Justice, Going Straight
Main Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Joaquin Phoenix, Charlize Theron, James Caan, Ellen Burstyn, Faye Dunaway
Release Year: 2000
Country: US
Run Time: 115 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
In this drama, a young man joins the family business without knowing that he's entering a world of danger and deceit. Hot-headed Leo Handler (Mark Wahlberg) has had some scrapes with the law and served time for a crime he didn't commit. Hoping to get his life back on track, he takes a job in the New York subway yards, secured by his Uncle Frank (James Caan), who has a high-ranking position in the New York Transit Authority. The longer Leo works in the yards, the more he realizes that his uncle controls a corrupt underworld where graft, violent reprisals, and even death are just part of the job. Will Leo turn against his family in the name of justice, or will he keep quiet and ignore the danger and lawlessness that surround him? The Yards also features Charlize Theron, Joaquin Phoenix, Ellen Burstyn, and Faye Dunaway. It was director James Gray's first film after his acclaimed debut with Little Odessa. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
Judy Rhee - Art Director, Douglas Aibel - Casting, Matt Reeves - Co-producer, Christopher Goode - Co-producer, Michael Clancy - Costume Designer, David Wechsler - First Assistant Director, James Gray - Director, Jeffrey Ford - Editor, Jonathan Gordon - Executive Producer, Bob Weinstein - Executive Producer, Harvey Weinstein - Executive Producer, Howard Shore - Composer (Music Score), Dana Sano - Musical Direction/Supervision, Kevin Thompson - Production Designer, Harris Savides - Cinematographer, Kerry Orent - Producer, Nick Wechsler - Producer, Paul Webster - Producer, Gary Rydstrom - Sound/Sound Designer, Tom Paul - Sound/Sound Designer, Kyrsten Mate Comoglio - Sound/Sound Designer, James Gray - Screenwriter, Matt Reeves - Screenwriter, Phil Benson - Supervising Sound Editor, Ford Wheeler - Set Decorator
The setting and plot is in the commuter rail yards in New York City, in the boroughs of the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn. Corporate and political corruption is commonplace in "the yards", where contractors repair railway cars for the city Transit Authority (TA). Companies wanting to win the bid sabotage rival companies' work to do so. Murder and bribes toward officials are common.
Leo Handler (Wahlberg) has just been released from prison for a car theft he didn't commit. Looking for a job, he finds his uncle Frank Olchin (Caan) who runs a railway car repair company. Joining on the job, he works with Willie (Phoenix). One night, a night heist goes bad on a rival company and a rail yard supervisor is stabbed and a cop beaten. Leo is fingered as a suspect. He must go on the run and prove his innocence and then bring down Frank and his company.
Box office
On a relatively limited release, the film took $11,889,352 in the United States and Canada.[2]
MTA New York City Transit (the city transit authority) first refused the production companies the right to film at any of its yards because it believed the film portrayed the agency in a bad light. The film was shot in Queens, in Maspeth, Elmhurst, Roosevelt Island, the Bronx, and New Jersey. The "rail yard" scenes were shot at the 207th Street shop on the New York City Transit system and at an abandoned freight yard in Brooklyn.
The film was based on an actual corruption scandal in the mid-1980s involving the father of the director, James Gray.
This is the first film to feature Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg acting together, the second film is We Own the Night, which is also directed by James Gray.
Wahlberg and Charlize Theron also appear together in the 2003 remake of The Italian Job.
