Another tale of family living and operating on the wrong side of the law. "he Yards" of the title are the railway yards in Queens and James Caan is the crooked and corrupt operative who supplies the rolling stock, bribing the city officials in the process. Other various family members include Mark Wahlberg and Joaquin Phoenix, Ellen Burstyn and Faye Dunaway and Charlize Theron while singer Steve Lawrence turns up as one of the corrupt officials. When a strong-arm operation goes wrong, ending in a killing, things go downhill very quickly for everyone concerned.On the surface, James Gray's movie might read like any other crime drama but this magnificent film is much more complex and intelligent and the relationships between the characters are beautifully delineated and totally believable, (even a fight sequence looks like the kind of fight that would happen in real life and not in the movies). There's a depth here rare in a film of this kind. Superbly written by Gray and co-scenarist Matt Reeves and brilliantly acted by everyone, (Wahlberg is particularly good), "The Yards" has all the makings of a bona-fide American classic and is certainly one of the best American films of the last 20 years and yet it wasn't really that big a success and today is virtually forgotten. Do yourself a favour and seek it out; you won't be disappointed.

Spoiler:This movie has some great acting, but an ending that ruins it for me. At the end, all the train yard principals cut a deal that only leaves one character hanging. But then another leading character violates the agreement, which makes no sense as it will devastate everyone he loves, plus gets him whacked before they can even go to trial, if the movie went on. The movie should have ended where three family members are holding hands at a funeral with a bitter-sweet ending. Instead the movie asks us to accept that a powerless, jobless ex-con is going to bring down the power brokers of New York city based on his word, and no proof at a council meeting. Rubbish.

Gloomy, soft spoken, and bare this story about corruption and its effect on Family and Friend relationships maybe too low key and laid back for mass appeal. It does offer a Name Cast and a slightly inaccurate Mob Boss attraction but this one is quite different than most.The Film is about character and stylish confrontations and wise(guy) cracking Characters are nowhere around this slow of pace, but tense, Noirish Melodrama. The best parts here are interpersonal relationships and responsibility put to the test in some gripping set pieces.The Movie does fail to completely render its Political uncovering and City Hall money grubbing. Those scenes feel less recovered and tend to stultify the pace. It is this weak exposition that keeps the better parts from becoming fully engaging and some of its themes a bit unclear.

The Yards is a crime film featuring Mark Wahlberg, James Caan, Joaquin Phoenix, and Charlize Theron. In this drama, a young man joins the family business without knowing that he's entering a world of danger and deceit. It was written and directed by James Gray.Hot-headed Leo Handler has had some scrapes with the law and served time for a crime he didn't commit. Hoping to get his life back on track, he takes a job in the New York subway yards, secured by his Uncle Frank, who has a high-ranking position in the New York Transit Authority. The longer Leo works in the yards, the more he realizes that his uncle controls a corrupt underworld where graft, violent reprisals, and even death are just part of the job. Will Leo turn against his family in the name of justice, or will he keep quiet and ignore the danger and lawlessness that surround him?A very good film, and though obviously flawed, it does generate one form of elation: the feeling of seeing a young director stick to the guns of his tricky, ambitious material, and find the right people to tell his story. How it 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. Overall, it is a sensitive, intelligent and ambitious variation on the traditional going-straight story; its ambiguity that makes the film interesting and a richly textured crime thriller with an authentic feel.