|
|
The Movie:
(Parts of the review of the prior DVD edition are used again here.)
Almost completely overlooked at the box office (the $20m film never reached more than 144 screens, and ended up making less than $1m), "The Yards" brings a fine cast to the proceedings for director James Grey and the director himself knows perfectly how to display them as well as move the characters around in the story in this suprisingly good crime drama. Mark Whalberg plays Leo Handler, a young man who has just gotten out on jail after serving time for car theft - taking the rap for his friends. One of those friends, Willie(Joaquin Phoenix) is there to greet him at the party held for him when he returns.
Leo would like nothing more than to start over - get a good job, take care of business, and not spend anymore time behind bars. Leo's cousin Erica(Charlize Theron, looking gothic) is dating Willie, and it's Willie who connects Leo with Uncle Frank(James Cann), who presents him with job opportunities. Only, not the kind of opprtunities that one trying to get out of trouble would want in on.
The job is supposed to be related to working on the railyards and subways, but instead of working, Leo finds himself a part of Willie's group, who go around sabotaging the equipment of competitors. As with all movies like this one, there's going to be a point where things go wrong - and it happens rather quickly, as a job at the local yards goes very badly. Although things seem like they can be taken care of at first, that thought proves wrong as evidence begins to pile up and backs turn as Leo finds himself forced to take the blame yet one more time.
The performances are perfectly underplayed - the somber atmosphere of the movie is perfectly done as to make the more intense scenes even that much more tense. The characters engage us, and the tension keeps us hooked - it's a working combonation here. And again, the film's cast is wonderful. Whalberg is excellent - really one of his better works - as Leo, a man who finds himself up against more he can handle. He makes the character not likable, certainly, but at least sympathetic and engaging. Phoenix is also excellent - a fantastic actor who is displaying even finer performances lately in films like "Gladiator", he and Whalberg work perfectly together here. Supporting cast members like Faye Dunaway, Ellen Burstyn, Caan and others provide unsuprisingly good work. Charlize Theron, a fine actress, does superb work, enough so that I wished Erica was a bigger character.
Overall though, "Yards" was a suprise that really should have gotten a bigger audience in theaters - great characters, realistic events, strong tension and atmosphere as well as a good screenplay are all highlights of a fine film.
This is the "director's cut" of the movie, which is not vastly different from the theatrical cut. This is the cut of the movie that Grey intended to show, which is actually a couple of minutes shorter, and has some things taken out and some added.
The DVD
VIDEO: "The Yards" is presented by Miramax in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen, as it was in the original release. The presentation quality here, while not flawless, did seem improved over the original release in some regards. Sharpness and detail were not consistently great, as some scenes look a bit softer than others. However, the film at least looked mostly well-defined.
As for issues, I did notice some edge enhancement at times, and a couple of instances of artifacts. However, the picture at least did not show any print flaws or other issues. Colors vary throughout the movie - there are some scenes with warmer, bolder colors that once or twice appeared somewhat oversaturated, but there are also scenes that are intentionally colder and more subtle looking than seemed fine.
SOUND: "The Yards" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. While the film is mainly dialogue-driven, there are some touches that take it beyond that. With the involvement of subway trains in the plot, they rumble through the frame every so often, sounding fairly convincing with some fairly deep bass. There's also some slight ambient sounds throughout the outdoor scenes, although nothing agressive - simply a lot of slight and subtle touches courtesy of the best sound designer in the business - Gary Rydstrom. Although this film definitely doesn't give Rydstrom the opportunity to contribute stunning and agressive sound (like his work on "The Haunting"), it does fine for the material.
Understandably, surrounds aren't put to a great deal of use. Howard Shore's elegant, moody score is re-inforced by the surrounds occasionally, but they really don't have a great deal of other work to do. Dialogue remains clear and fairly easily understood.
EXTRAS:
Commentary: This is a commentary from director James Grey. I'd already enjoyed watching the film by itself, but listening to the director's discussion won me over further. His comments are intelligent and he is an extremely well-spoken fellow who has a seemingly very vast knowledge of film. I quite liked the tone of the commentary - Grey is not only energetic, but he does not have an ego about the work. Although he seems very pleased with the final product, he mostly discusses what he attempted - whether or not it works is up to the viewer. He seems to be saying that he can understand where people may find fault with the film, and then gives his opinions on what he tried to accomplish by what he did. Although there are some slight pauses of silence throughout the track, I would definitely catagorize this track as "quality, not quantity." The director's comments are informative, insightful, and to the point. He doesn't ramble - just delivers a very solid discussion of the intentions of the characters and the story as well as working with the actors and achieving the look of the film. It's a track well worth a listen.
Featurette: A fairly lengthy featurette turns out to be pretty promotional, as the actors talk about the story and how pleased they are to be part of the project. There's a few little informative bits and pieces, but not a great deal to it.
Original Concept Art: This is actually a gallery of paintings that were important to director James Grey during the making of the film, which inspired the look of the picture. At the end of the group are a couple of poster art concept images.
Commentary: The first of the new features here is an outstanding commentary with director James Grey and Steven Soderberg. Soderberg joins the commentary and functions as an interviewer, asking terrific questions, getting very informative and insightful responses and also, bouncing ideas back-and-forth well. The two provide a discussion that revolves around topics such as style of directing actors, aspect ratio, shooting on location, cinematography, sound, script and sharing stories, like one moment where Phoenix had to do nearly 70 takes of a scene. It's an entertaining, fun and very informative track that is a highly recommended listen.
Roundtable Discussion: This is a 30-minute documentary that has Theron, Whalberg, Caan and director Grey getting back together for a discussion about remembering working on the feature. The three actors are a lot of fun as they joke and recall stories from the set, and analyze some specific elements of the movie. This is not taken from the original production - the actors and Grey were brought back together for this DVD.
Also: 8 deleted scenes (w/optional commentary), "Visualizing the Yards" featurette and the trailer.
Final Thoughts: The director's cut is nice to have, but is not terribly different from the theatrical cut. The real highlight of this DVD are the special features, including a wonderful new commentary and roundtable discussion. The original DVD's supplements also return here, and the image quality seems a bit improved over the prior release. Recommended.
Film Grade
The Film B+
DVD Grades
Video 86/B
Audio: 89/B+
Extras: 89/B+
|