The Yards
Short description
Leo Handler returns to Queens after a prison sentence, hoping to rebuild his life. Through his aunt's marriage to Frank Olchin, a powerful figure in the city's rail-yard contracting business, Leo finds work repairing subway cars. His old friend Willie Gutierrez draws him into the illegal practices that surround the contracts, and Leo comes to understand the scale of the corruption controlling the industry. When he is wrongly accused of murder, he must decide whether to speak out against the people closest to him, knowing that his own family is part of the network he would expose.
James Gray directed and co-wrote the film with Matt Reeves, following his debut Little Odessa by six years. It is the second of the nine features Gray has directed, arriving before We Own the Night. Mark Wahlberg leads as Leo, with Joaquin Phoenix as Willie, Charlize Theron as Erica Soltz, James Caan as Frank Olchin, and Ellen Burstyn and Faye Dunaway in supporting roles. The production cost 24 million USD.
On IMDb the film holds 6.4/10 from 22,545 votes, and on TMDB 6.3/10 from 547 votes. A critics' rating of 5.9/10 from 98 reviews places it just below the audience scores, so critical and viewer responses were close.
What's left behind the scenes
- During the fight scene between Leo and Willy, the actors fought for real. Although they were wearing knee and elbow pads, all of Joaquin Phoenix’s and Mark Wahlberg’s punches were genuine. The actors were bruised the next day.
- The film is based on a real corruption scandal that took place in the mid-80s, in which the father of director James Gray was involved.
- The news anchors Leo watches on television are not actors, but real New York news anchors.
- Although the film was released in the fall of 2000, it was filmed between the spring and summer of 1998, and the premiere was scheduled for the fall of 1999. However, due to studio and production problems, the film's release had to be postponed for a year.
- Before the fight scene, Joaquin Phoenix actually hit Charlize Theron, and also genuinely fell down the stairs.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
