- The Yards
Infobox Film
name = The Yards
image_size =
caption = DVD cover for "The Yards"
director = James Gray
producer =Kerry Orent
writer = James GrayMatt Reeves
narrator =
starring =Mark Wahlberg Joaquin Phoenix Charlize Theron James Caan Ellen Burstyn Faye Dunaway Andrew Davoli
music =Howard Shore
cinematography = Harris Savides
editing = Jeffrey Ford
distributor =
released =October 12 , 2000
runtime = 115 min
country =United States
language = English
budget =
gross =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0138946"The Yards" is a crime thriller with
Mark Wahlberg ,James Caan ,Joaquin Phoenix , andCharlize Theron , written and directed by James Gray. It was released in the fall of 2000, although it was shot in the spring and summer of 1998 and first due for release in fall 1999, this due to studio delays.The setting and plot is in the
commuter rail yards inNew York City , in the boroughs of theBronx ,Queens andBrooklyn . Corporate andpolitical 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.Plot
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.
Trivia
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, inMaspeth , Elmhurst,Roosevelt Island , Bronx, andNew 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 byJames Gray .Wahlberg and Charlize Theron also appear together in the 2003 remake of The Italian Job.
External links
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