The Yards

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The Yards
DVD cover for The Yards
Directed by	James Gray
Produced by	Kerry Orent
Written by	James Gray Matt Reeves
Starring	Mark Wahlberg Joaquin Phoenix Charlize Theron James Caan Ellen Burstyn Faye Dunaway Andrew Davoli
Music by	Howard Shore
Cinematography	Harris Savides
Editing by	Jeffrey Ford
Release date(s)	October 12, 2000
Running time	115 min
Country	United States
Language	English
IMDb profile

The Yards is a crime thriller with Mark Wahlberg, James Caan, Joaquin Phoenix, and Charlize Theron, written and directed by James Gray. It was released in the fall of 2000, although it was shot in the spring and summer of 1998 and first due for release in fall 1999, this due to studio delays.

The setting and plot is in the commuter rail yards in the outskirts of New York City, in the boroughs of the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn. Corporate and political corruption is commonplace in "the yards", where contractors repair railway cars for the city Transit Authority (TA). Companies wanting to win the bid sabotage rival companies' work to do so. Murder and bribes toward officials are common.

[edit] Plot

Leo Handler (Wahlberg) has just been released from prison for a car theft he didn't commit. Looking for a job, he finds his uncle Frank Olchin (Caan) who runs a railway car repair company. Joining on the job, he works with Willie (Phoenix). One night, a night heist goes bad on a rival company and a rail yard supervisor is stabbed and a cop beaten. Leo is fingered as a suspect. He must go on the run and prove his innocence and then bring down Frank and his company.

[edit] Trivia

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The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.

MTA New York City Transit (the city transit authority) first refused the production companies the right to film at any of its yards because it believed the film portrayed the agency in a bad light. The film was shot in Queens, in Maspeth, Elmhurst, Roosevelt Island, Bronx, and New Jersey. The "rail yard" scenes were shot at the 207th Street shop on the New York City Transit system and at an abandoned freight yard in Brooklyn.

The film was based on an actual corruption scandal in the mid-1980s involving the father of the director, James Gray.

This is the first film to feature Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg acting together, the second film is We Own the Night, which is also directed by James Gray.

Wahlberg and Charlize Theron also appear together in the 2003 remake of The Italian Job.