The Yards - Director's Cut (Miramax Collector's Series)
by James Gray
List Price:
Our Price: $13.49
You Save: $1.50 (10%)
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Buy Used: from $4.20 (click here)
Category: DVD
See more DVD releases
Buy this DVD movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
DVD Cover Information
Actor: Charlize Theron, Ellen Burstyn, James Caan, Joaquin Phoenix, Mark WahlbergDirector: James Gray
Brand: WAHLBERG,MARK
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; Spanish (Original Language); Spanish (Subtitled)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Director's Cut, DVD-Video, NTSC
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 115 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-12-13
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Miramax Home Entertainment
Movie Reviews of The Yards - Director's Cut (Miramax Collector's Series)
Movie Review: Meaty
Summary: 4 Stars
Director James Gray paired Joaquin Phoenix with Mark Wahlberg in We Own the Night. He also has worked with Phoenix in "Two Lovers." "The Yards" was nominated for the Golden Palm Award @ the Cannes Film Festival. Gray does a good job of keeping the action moving, but my attraction to the film was that it was an excellent character-based drama with performances that made me care about the characters.
Mark Wahlberg was nominated for an Oscar for The Departed (Widescreen Edition) in 2006. As Leo Handler in this film, his performance is tightly controlled. He seems to be the moral centerpiece of the film, going to jail without ratting out his friends & then stepping up to help weed out corruption. Whether this leap is entirely believable is debatable. Wahlberg is put through the plot's big squeeze, but we don't entirely see this coming. Perhaps Gray intended the reversal in the courtroom as a surprise.
Joaquin Phoenix has two Oscar nominations for "Gladiator" in 2000 & "Walk the Line" in 2005. He won a Best Supporting Actor award from the Broadcast Film Critics Association & the National Board of Review for "The Yards." As Willie Guiterrez, he's got a short fuse, thinks he can bully romance & yet we somehow still like him for the goodness that seeps through his sleazy side.
Charlize Theron who won her Oscar for "Monster" in 2003 & was nominated in 2005 for "North Country" does an excellent job as Erica Stoltz, the girl who has a past with Leo, a present with Willie & issues with her step-father Frank. It's a riveting tightrope she walks.
Frank Olchin, Eric's step-father, is played by James Caan, who was Oscar-nominated for "The Godfather" in 1972. Caan plays his usual likeable bad guy as he interfaces with Willie & plays Leo as a chump.
Leo's mother, Val Handler, is played by Ellen Burstyn who has five Oscar nominations in addition to her win for "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" in 1973. DVD extras reveal that she was Gray's first choice for the role. She plays the ailing mother well, balancing maternal affection with a realistic view of the world.
Faye Dunaway plays Frank's wife & Val's sister Kitty Olchin. Dunaway who was Oscar-nominated for the two classic films "Bonnie & Clyde" & "Chinatown," won her award for "Network" in 1976. She credits Gray with sizing her minimal performance, which speaks to his style & makes her courtroom collapse all the more dramatic.
While "The Yards" may be a bit uneven, I found it gripping. It spoke to an moral center that exists even in flawed men & women. How each character adapts to the challenges of family loyalty, business pressures & their ethical center makes the film meaty, worthy of seeing again from time to time. Enjoy!
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
Drama DVD Video
DVD Video
- Action & Adventure
- African American Cinema
- Animation
- Anime & Manga
- Art House & International
- Classics
- Comedy
- Cult Movies
- Documentary
- Drama
- Educational
- Fitness & Yoga
- Gay & Lesbian
- Horror
- Kids & Family
- Military & War
- Music Video & Concerts
- Musicals & Performing Arts
- Mystery & Suspense
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Special Interests
- Sports
- Television
- Westerns
Movies most talked about in Mark Wahlberg!!!!!!!!!!!
Max PayneTwentieth Century Fox; Release date: 2009-01-20; DVD
Best price: $5.00
Price in other shops:
The HappeningHAPPENING, THE (DVD MOVIE); Release date: 2008-10-07; DVD
Best price: $3.79
Price in other shops:
WE OWN THE NIGHTDVD
![The Big Hit [Region 2] Image](/images/The-Big-Hit-Region-2-B00004D0EC-X.jpg)
The Big Hit [Region 2]DVD
Best price: $11.50
TriggermenWarner Brothers; Release date: 2004-08-17; DVD
Best price: $3.49
Price in other shops:
TravellerRelease date: 2000-07-25; DVD
Best price: $18.98
OvernightRelease date: 2005-06-28; DVD
Best price: $2.42
Price in other shops:
Black Circle BoysRelease date: 2004-03-09; DVD
Best price: $6.07
Price in other shops:
The Truth About Charlie (including with original movie 'Charade')Universal; Release date: 2003-04-01; DVD
Best price: $3.38
Price in other shops:
The Yards - Director's Cut (Miramax Collector's Series)WAHLBERG,MARK; Release date: 2005-12-13; DVD
Best price: $4.49
Price in other shops:
Similar DVD Movies
Boogie NightsWarner Brothers; Release date: 2007-07-03; DVD
Best price: $8.31
Price in other shops:
Buffalo SoldiersBuffalo; Release date: 2004-01-13; DVD
Best price: $4.34
Price in other shops:
Four Brothers (Special Collector's Edition)Paramount; Release date: 2005-12-20; DVD
Best price: $4.37
Price in other shops:
Rock StarWarner Brothers; Release date: 2002-01-22; DVD
Best price: $3.95
Price in other shops:
Shooter (Widescreen Edition)WAHLBERG,MARK; Release date: 2007-06-26; DVD
Best price: $9.98
Price in other shops:
The Truth About Charlie (including with original movie 'Charade')Universal; Release date: 2003-04-01; DVD
Best price: $3.35
Price in other shops:
FearUniversal; Release date: 1998-10-27; DVD
Best price: $3.43
Price in other shops:
The Corruptor (New Line Platinum Series)Release date: 1999-09-14; DVD
Best price: $1.87
Price in other shops:
The Big HitSony; Release date: 1998-10-27; DVD
Best price: $4.45
Price in other shops:
We Own the NightSony; Release date: 2008-02-12; DVD
Best price: $4.53
Price in other shops: