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The Yards film review
THE YARDS
Running time: 115 mins
Starring: Mark Wahlberg, Joaquin Phoenix, Charlize Theron, James Caan, Ellen Burstyn, Faye Dunaway, Chad Aaron, Andrew Davoli, Steve Lawrence
Writer/director James Gray has created a dark and venal world with which to inhabit his characters. The Yards centres on the murky dealings of those involved in maintaining and repairing the trains of the New York mass transit system. It's an environment familiar to Gray whose own father is the inspiration behind one of the film's central characters.
When Leo Handler (Wahlberg) is released from prison having taken the full rap for an auto theft that involved his mates, including best friend Willie (Phoenix), he returns home with a vow to go straight. He seeks a job with his uncle Frank (Caan) whose company is embroiled in the competitive and corrupt pursuit of contracts to upkeep the trains. Frank, concerned for Leo's welfare, does his utmost to discourage him, but the desire to take care of his sick mother (Burstyn) combined with the rich rewards enjoyed by Willie who also works for Frank, tempt Leo. However Willie's role is more enforcement than employment and in a sabotaging raid on the yards of a rival contractor things go wrong leaving a yardmaster dead and a policeman in hospital.
Suspicion falls on Leo who finds his well-intentioned endeavours to go straight jeopardised and his loyalties challenged as friends and family distance themselves. The moral dilemma posed to Leo provides the central theme of the film. Armed with the truth he is forced to choose between personal salvation and the betrayal of those closest to him.
The Yards creates an insular world where all the characters are tightly linked and explores and questions their allegiances. Frank is married to Leo's aunt Kitty (Dunaway), whose daughter by her first marriage Erika (Theron) is involved with Willie. This relationship is imbued with added tension by the fact that Leo is also in love with Erika.
The corruption implicit in Frank's line of work blurs his moral compass. It permeates every aspect of his business and those he's involved with. In a profession built on bribery, backhanders and theft, everyone has their price. Everyone that is, apparently, except Leo.
The Yards boasts a great cast, all of whom revel in their vivid and defined characters. Wahlberg achieves Leo's strength through restraint rather than bluster while Phoenix perfectly captures Willie's anxious bravado. Where the film lets itself down slightly is its pacing. It rarely deviates from its steady stride as it marches inexorably towards its predictable conclusion, pausing only briefly to include a completely unnecessary twist.
Bathed in a sombre sepia light, with toughened characters mumbling there way through, Gray has created a convincing and original work, reminiscent in style somewhat to The Godfather. It's an absorbing and understated film that neither shakes you nor shocks you, but nevertheless leaves you feeling satisfied.
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