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The Yards (Director's Cut) (Miramax Collector's Series)
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DVD Cover InformationActor: Charlize Theron, Ellen Burstyn, James Caan, Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Wahlberg Brand: Buena Vista Home Video DVD: Region Code 1 Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish (Original Language) Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Director's Cut, DVD, NTSC Picture Format: 2.35:1 Running Time: 115 minutes DVD Release Date: 2005-12-13 Audience Rating: R (Restricted) Studio: Miramax Product features: - The Miramax Collector's Series presents the unrated director s cut of the motion picture acclaimed by critics and moviegoers alike. Mark Wahlberg (THE ITALIAN JOB), Joaquin Phoenix (LADDER 49), and Academy Award(R)-winner Charlize Theron (Best Actress, MONSTER, 2003) power this riveting crime thriller! Just out of jail, an innocent man (Wahlberg) becomes the target of the most ruthless family
Movie Reviews of The Yards (Director's Cut) (Miramax Collector's Series)Movie Review: Gordian Knot Summary: 4 Stars
Potboilers such as these are like lasagna. Real easy to make, but real easy to screw up. This is a pretty good romp.
Here's the scoop. Wahlberg is fresh out of prison on a grand theft auto rap. He wants to go straight and get into his "uncle's" train manufacturing business but things aren't so easy. Uncle, however, has a guy (Phoenix) who handles certain "business" aspects for him. Wahlberg goes out with him one night on business and things go way South. Now Wahlberg is in a deep hole with seemingly no way out. Will he prevail?!
I liked this movie a lot. It sports a great cast, all of whom do a fine job, and it's a good storyline. Much of the power in the story derives from the relationships of all the characters. The one crucial incident sets up a domino effect that seems to go on and on. As a result this doesn't appear contrived. All the incidents have a more natural flow. I really wanted to know how these things would play themselves out. I had serious doubts as to whether or not the film makers could pull this off. For my money they did. There was one part of the resolve I could have done without but overall I was satisfied.
All the production aspects are very good. It's acted well, shot well, (it has a look similar to "The Godfather") and a decent musical score. Though maybe this isn't great film art it's still a solid effort. If you like crime dramas this should be right up your alley.
Summary of The Yards (Director's Cut) (Miramax Collector's Series)Hot young stars Mark Wahlberg (THE PERFECT STORM, PLANET OF THE APES), Joaquin Phoenix (GLADIATOR, SIGNS), and Charlize Theron (WAKING UP IN RENO, THE CIDER HOUSE RULES) power this riveting crime thriller! Released from prison after taking the fall for a group of his friends, Leo Handler (Wahlberg) just wants to get his life back on track. But when he takes a job with his powerfully influential Uncle Frank (James Caan -- THE GODFATHER TRILOGY, MICKEY BLUE EYES) and reconnects with his old friend Willie (Phoenix), Leo finds himself unwittingly drawn into a world of sabotage, high-stakes payoffs, and even murder! Then, he discovers a secret that makes him the target of the city's most ruthless family -- his own! With memorable performances from Faye Dunaway (THE THOMAS CROWN AFFAIR) and Ellen Burstyn (REQUIEM FOR A DREAM), the excitement builds as Leo does everything in his power to take them down in the name of justice! Fulfilling the promise of his debut film, Little Odessa, 31-year-old writer-director James Gray proves himself a mature storyteller who attracts good actors and elicits their best work. Inspired by the experiences of his own father, Gray sets The Yards inside the corrupt workings of the New York City railway system, in which men such as Frank Olchin (James Caan) maintain their dominance by sabotaging the work of their competitors. Mark Wahlberg is well cast as Leo Handler, who serves jail time for a crime he didn't commit and returns home to a warm welcome from his ailing mother (Ellen Burstyn), his aunt Kitty (and Frank's wife, played by Faye Dunaway), and cousin Erica (Charlize Theron). He's also welcomed by his friend Willie (Joaquin Phoenix), who does most of Uncle Frank's dirty work and brings the needy Leo into his lucrative fold. Things go from bad to worse, and Leo's suspected in the killing of a railway official and the beating of a city patrolman. On the run, he uncovers the political machinations that keep Uncle Frank in power, and The Yards unfolds as a compelling tale of family, twisted loyalties, and the quest for truth. There's stellar work from everyone involved, but if The Yards has one major flaw, it's that Gray directs with a solemnity that's almost off-putting, as if a moment of levity would violate his story's integrity. Visually The Yards invites comparison to The Godfather, and it boasts much of that film's moral complexity and depth of character, but it's too self-consciously heavy, and that compromises its overall impact. Still, this is good work from a talented director whose future films will be watched with interest. --Jeff Shannon
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