The Yards

Name: The Yards
Genre: Drama, Thriller, Crime
Released: October 20, 2000
Duration: 115 min
Rating: 58
Cast: Charlize Theron, Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg

2000

METASCORE

Mixed or average reviews based on 31 Critic Reviews

See All

USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 43 Ratings

See All

8.0

VOTE NOW

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

8.0	Your Score
8.0	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 43 Ratings

Would you like to write a review?

There is a 75 character minimum for reviews. If your review contains spoilers, please check the Spoiler box. Please do not use ALL CAPS. There is no linking or other HTML allowed. Your review may be edited for content. 0/5000

Check box if your review contains spoilers

Play Sound

Please enter your birth date to watch this video:

You are not allowed to view this material at this time.

The Yards

Now Playing: The Yards

Movie Details & Credits

Miramax Films | Release Date: October 20, 2000 | Unrated

Starring: Charlize Theron, Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg

Summary: A drama set in the vast New York City subway yards. After serving time in prison for taking the fall for a group of his friends, Leo Handler (Wahlberg) just wants to get his life back on track. So, Leo returns to the one place he thinks will be safe -- home. But in the yards, where his uncle (Caan) now pulls the strings, safe is not howA drama set in the vast New York City subway yards. After serving time in prison for taking the fall for a group of his friends, Leo Handler (Wahlberg) just wants to get his life back on track. So, Leo returns to the one place he thinks will be safe -- home. But in the yards, where his uncle (Caan) now pulls the strings, safe is not how they do business. (Miramax Films)… Expand

Director: James Gray

Genre(s): Drama, Thriller, Crime

Rating: Unrated

Runtime: 115 min

See All Details and Credits

Watch Now

Buy on

Stream On

Expand

Metascore

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Critic Reviews

G. Allen Johnson

Classic in feel and loaded with sumptuous performances. Read full review

Mr. Showbiz Michael Atkinson

May not have enough story to sustain its narrative momentum, but Gray just might be our best shot at a new Coppola. Read full review

David Sterritt

The cast is just right for this mini-"Godfather" yarn, and Gray's filmmaking is generally on target even if it does tend to dawdle along the way. Read full review

Desmond Ryan

Instead of the usual contrast of black and white, The Yards offers a vivid palette of grays, and it's a far more rewarding color scheme for a movie. Read full review

Jay Carr

By the end, we're left with a feeling of depletion rather than resolution, which may have been Gray's intention. Read full review

Film.com Robert Horton

A collection of movie situations, recognizable from the films of Coppola and Scorsese, with a less obvious debt to Kazan. Read full review

Jonathan Rosenbaum

One more sluggish, artfully framed thriller with Rembrandt lighting set in a New York borough--a kind of picture that's awfully hard to do in a fresh manner. Read full review

SEE ALL 31 REVIEWS

Write a Review

User Reviews

John935

Oct 11, 2015

Classic. The French are gaga for director Gray and Frenchies know a thing or 2 about film. Amazing cast and Caan particularly stands out. DP Harris Savides worked for the Coppolas and it shows. This is sort of Carravagio meets The Godfather. A sizable number of critics accused it ofClassic. The French are gaga for director Gray and Frenchies know a thing or 2 about film. Amazing cast and Caan particularly stands out. DP Harris Savides worked for the Coppolas and it shows. This is sort of Carravagio meets The Godfather. A sizable number of critics accused it of pretentiousness. Like a NY crime picture shouldn't aim too high, right? This one you need to see.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful10

DawdlingPoet

Nov 27, 2021

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. This is a crime drama film, which features themes including corruption, friendship, theft and fate. The film sets itself up quite early as a gritty, urban tale and it seemed relatively fast paced, with scenes set in a New York nightclub taking place quite early on. The camerawork used in said scenes was quite disorientating and probably would bother people who may be prone to motion sickness. It has the feel of a gangster film, with characters having a fairly strong Italian-American, gangster/mobster dialect - think The Sopranos, that sort of thing.

Cast wise, the film features a fresh faced Mark Wahlberg as Leo Handler, who seems unsurprisingly naive to the game he's entering in to. He's quite nervy and a fast runner at times. Meanwhile, Willie Gutierrez is played by an equally fresh faced Joaquin Phoenix (the film dates from 2000 I should add - most of the films I've seen these 2 actors in being made from c. 2004/5 onwards). These were both good actors for their roles, as I felt they looked the part of their characters, given their different backgrounds. Other cast members include Charlize Theron as Erica Soltz, James Caan as Frank Olchin and Faye Dunaway, who plays Kitty Olchin. The cast is quite impressive for such a film. While the plot was ok, it wasn't exactly entirely original - you'd almost expect such a cast to be in a slightly better written, or otherwise quality, of film.

The film features some incidental music, mostly quite sombre instrumental based pieces, presumably to add to the films grittiness. It seemed a little cliche but I wouldn't say its awful either, although it was perhaps a little loud on ocassion. Ironically, there were also moments featuring frustratingly quiet dialogue, which I found a bit hard to follow fully. To be fair, I suppose its what you might expect, if underground type criminal characters are discussing 'certain things' in public, or otherwise, they wouldn't want to shout things to the world exactly but even so(!). I think the audio quality isn't great for any content less than HD and I was watching an HD recording of this film but it seemed to be in standard definition - given its from 2000, it quite probably doesn't have better quality audio.

It is quite a family oriented film, certainly not in terms of it being family friendly, viewing wise but in terms of the plot and characters being respected, or disrespected, due to their relationship to one another. Again that made me think of gangster type films.

Content wise, the film contains violence in the form of fights (fist fights etc.), there's partial nudity but nothing very graphic, some strong language, scenes featuring both smoking and drinking and in general, the film is somewhat dark, both in tone, themes and also in terms of the general lighting in a lot of scenes. There are also some relatively quick turn of events which may briefly frighten young viewers. Due to this, the film has been given a 15 rating.

I thought this film was pretty good - not brilliant or great but quite decent. It has a spooky feel to it which builds after a while but I thought it could have done with a bit more in the way of character background/development maybe...it was missing something in any case. There were some scenes in which I found myself feeling surprisingly gripped but overall it didn't quite hit the overall mark to get a full mark from me, star wise, as it were. I wasn't as keen on it at the start but I found myself feeling more engrossed and keen to see what happened to the main character, Leo, as the plot developed.

I'd say yes, I would recommend it if your interested in it given what I've said and especially if your keen to see either Mark Wahlberg or Joaquin Phoenix in a role from some years back. If your looking for a totally modern, high quality and highly memorable action/crime film, though, you may be better looking elsewhere. It certainly isn't perfect, or even great but, as I've said, its a good enough watch, with a decent cast, some gripping moments and a spooky feel, or tone, to it. I'll leave the 'would you recommend it?' question as undecided as it depends on what your looking for, as to whether this would be recommended or not.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

JLuis_001

Jan 30, 2022

I wasn't sure about giving it a six, but it did manage to convince me because I didn't find it disappointing. The Yards has an excellent main cast, but suffers greatly from a lack of transcendence due to its reluctance to focus on unnecessary characterizations that add nothing to what theI wasn't sure about giving it a six, but it did manage to convince me because I didn't find it disappointing. The Yards has an excellent main cast, but suffers greatly from a lack of transcendence due to its reluctance to focus on unnecessary characterizations that add nothing to what the film achieves in other sections, especially since here both the plot and its cast do get it right, and therefore manage to drive the story as best they can with what they are given.

Although they don't get anything that becomes special or more attractive, and it's a shame because the film had elements with which it could have achieved it.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

NickTheCritick

Nov 7, 2021

The film itself is not bad, but after the good debut of little Odessa, Gray seems to get lost a bit here. The story of a teenager who comes out of prison intent on resuming a normal life but who is sucked into the lap of delinquency is something that has already been seen several times. TheThe film itself is not bad, but after the good debut of little Odessa, Gray seems to get lost a bit here. The story of a teenager who comes out of prison intent on resuming a normal life but who is sucked into the lap of delinquency is something that has already been seen several times. The acting is good but the movie isn't that interesting.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

CameraBounceGod

Dec 26, 2015

juaquine pheonix saying just stand there and watch it'll be alright says it all but who cares..i may finish it for the hell of it..................................

0 of 3 users found this helpful03

SEE ALL 5 REVIEWS