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The Yards

Play trailer Poster for The Yards R Released Apr 27, 2000 1h 55m Crime Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
64% Tomatometer 98 Reviews 51% Popcornmeter 5,000+ Ratings
After serving time in prison for taking the fall for a group of his friends, Leo just wants to get his life back on track. So he goes to the one place he thinks will be safe -- home. There he takes a new job with his highly connected and influential uncle. But in the yards, where his uncle now pulls the strings, safe is not how they do business. Unwittingly, he's drawn into a world of sabotage, high stakes payoffs and even murder.
The Yards

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Critics Consensus

Featuring strong performances and direction, The Yards is a richly textured crime thriller with an authentic feel.

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Critics Reviews

View All (98) Critics Reviews
Richard Brody The New Yorker The tangle of family, business, and crime, with its resulting loyalties and betrayals, is the volatile stuff of which the drama is made. Jun 28, 2021 Full Review Todd McCarthy Variety An On the Waterfront wannabe, directed with a heavy portentousness that smothers the drama in a thick sauce of self-importance. Aug 5, 2008 Full Review Andrew Sarris Observer I can't remember when a film so well-acted and so well-rendered visually was also so oppressive to sit through. Apr 27, 2007 Full Review A.S. Hamrah The Baffler The outer boroughs in James Gray's New York are forlorn, and The Yards is a lament for a good-hearted white loser... Sep 16, 2020 Full Review Antonia Quirke Independent on Sunday It has a terrific subject, an unimprovable cast and a trio of trustworthy, even hip, producers. And no life. Nov 28, 2017 Full Review Nick Rogers Midwest Film Journal How "The Yards" shifts toward crime drama through character rather than pure plot is hard to disclose without divesting twists. Inspired by real-life scandal, James Gray lets personal insight color Shakespearean shenanigans of privilege, panic and power. Rated: 3.5/4 Dec 15, 2010 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Steve D A strong cast and not much else. Rated 2 out of 5 stars 01/31/24 Full Review Hovhannes From the beginning the movie did a great job making me sympethetic to Leo. However; as the movie was nearing the end, I felt more sorry for Frank, rather than Leo. The main character Leo is an astonishing dumbass, I don't know if that was the intention of the director or that's how it turned out to be. He lives by the street code, and then imidetly throws it out of the window at the end, even though all of these could be ignored. Frank suprisingly cares more about his family than his dirty business. He treated Leo with more respect than Willie, they are in a way family after all. Leo feels betrayed but it's his fault for trusting Willie a second time, not only that if he told Frank who the true killer was in the abandoned building things could have turned out much different. What was Frank supposed to do, let him go when he thinks that Leo is the killer? That's why Leo has no right to be upset with Frank, when he threw out his best chance out of the window. I understadnd that if Frank turned on Willie that he might spill the beans, but I know he has the connections to make Willie shut up even if Willie is arrested. Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 08/10/23 Full Review jack s I understand that The Yards is supposed to be about real people trying to do the best they can within a system that's rotten to the core. I also appreciate that the screenplay is supposed to be more complex than a standard good vs evil crime story. But even so, I'm sorry to say that every character onscreen (except for Wahlberg's saintly mother, played by Burstyn) is hopelessly corrupt. It's simply impossible to respect or care about any of them. For example, stand-up guy, Leo (Wahlberg) goes to prison rather than rat on his friends, but then does an about-face after his release and does exactly that to his family when he inevitably gets into trouble. Separately, Theron's character appears shocked when she suddenly learns her boyfriend (Phoenix) is a violent criminal—a fact that's perfectly obvious to every other character, as well as the viewing audience, from the beginning. Although extremely well performed all around by a fine cast, The Yards is relentlessly grim, depressing and ultimately unsatisfying. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review jelisije j An ex con that deals with the struggle of poverty, a sick dying mother, and systematic corruption. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member This movie failed to grab my attention and I’ve never seen people act as nonchalant over major life altering things were unfolding 2.2. Then the cousins sleeping with each other gets thrown in like what . Just wasn’t fun Rated 2 out of 5 stars 09/10/21 Full Review andrei d Bine jucat, nu prea atent construit Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 03/30/23 Full Review Read all reviews
The Yards

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Movie Info

Synopsis After serving time in prison for taking the fall for a group of his friends, Leo just wants to get his life back on track. So he goes to the one place he thinks will be safe -- home. There he takes a new job with his highly connected and influential uncle. But in the yards, where his uncle now pulls the strings, safe is not how they do business. Unwittingly, he's drawn into a world of sabotage, high stakes payoffs and even murder.
Director
James Gray
Producer
Kerry Orent, Paul Webster, Nick Wechsler
Screenwriter
James Gray, Matt Reeves
Distributor
Miramax Films
Production Co
Miramax Films, Industry Entertainment
Rating
R (Scene of Sexuality|Language|Violence)
Genre
Crime, Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Apr 27, 2000, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Oct 8, 2016
Box Office (Gross USA)
$882.7K
Runtime
1h 55m
Sound Mix
SDDS, DTS, Surround, Dolby Digital, Dolby SR
Aspect Ratio
Scope (2.35:1)