Release Date:
Friday, October 20, 2000
A few missteps and an overwhelming feeling of seen-this-before keep The Yards from being a really good movie. Effectively dour and relatively engaging, the film unfortunately moves slower than a geriatric in a checkout line and builds to an underwhelming climax.
Innocent con Leo (Mark Wahlberg) is released from prison after taking the fall for some buddies and returns to Queens to a suddenly-wealthy childhood pal (Joaquin Phoenix) and a job offer from a shady step-uncle (James Caan). (Wahlberg and Phoenix are so impressive that we wished their characters were in a better movie. And Caan can play shady characters in his sleep.) Of course, the life of crime reclaims him and his already sketchy world begins to fall apart. Anyone whos seen The Godfather, The Sopranos, or any Scorsese film knows where all of this is heading. If only this filmmaking team had attempted to do something different with these conventions (rather than haphazardly rehash them), this flick might have been good rather than merely adequate.
Innocent con Leo (Mark Wahlberg) is released from prison after taking the fall for some buddies and returns to Queens to a suddenly-wealthy childhood pal (Joaquin Phoenix) and a job offer from a shady step-uncle (James Caan). (Wahlberg and Phoenix are so impressive that we wished their characters were in a better movie. And Caan can play shady characters in his sleep.) Of course, the life of crime reclaims him and his already sketchy world begins to fall apart. Anyone whos seen The Godfather, The Sopranos, or any Scorsese film knows where all of this is heading. If only this filmmaking team had attempted to do something different with these conventions (rather than haphazardly rehash them), this flick might have been good rather than merely adequate.