By EWAN McDONALD
(Herald rating: * * * )
Leo (Mark Wahlberg) has been released from prison, where he took the rap for his buddies, and is welcomed home at a party. Which is a way of introducing his extended family: his best friend, Willie (Joaquin Phoenix); his mother, Val (Ellen Burstyn);
her sister, Kitty (Faye Dunaway), whose second husband is Uncle Frank (James Caan). Kitty's daughter, Erica (Charlize Theron), is dating Willie. Everyone is connected.
Frank is connected in another meaning of the word. He is a big contractor at the Yards, where New York's subway trains are repaired and rebuilt. Leo goes to Frank looking for a job as a machinist, but that takes an expensive apprenticeship.
Leo turns to Willie, who runs a muscle crew for Frank. On his first night a yardmaster is killed and Leo beats up a cop. The cop fingers Leo, who cannot tell Uncle Frank what really happened.
If Leo keeps quiet, he goes down for murder. If he talks, everyone goes down. Who is guilty? Uncle Frank, who works both sides of the law? The police commander who is offered a bribe to keep the cop from testifying? The code of the Yards? Apart from the typically wooden Wahlberg, a gritty, brutal story.
Rental video, DVD: Today
* DVD features: movie (115 mins), theatrical trailer, behind-the-scenes feature, b-roll footage, original conceptual art, cast-and-crew info and interviews, director's audio commentary.
