There is a good idea hiding somewhere deep inside James Gray's The Yards, which may account for its selection to prestigious film festivals such as Cannes and Toronto.

The story, a film noirish descent into the murky underworld of corruption surrounding the New York subway system and its marshalling yards, seems to have substance and starts off with a bit of flair.
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Young Leo Handler (Mark Wahlberg) sits warily in a subway car that is taking him back to the city after a stretch in prison for conviction on auto theft. He glances at the police guard at the middle of the car, then quickly averts his eyes. Leo has reason for concern: He is entering a world that can be just as dangerous as life in prison.

Thus begins "The Yards," a taut crime movie that resembles the flip side of "The Godfather." Leo's family is small-time compared with the Corleones and their lavish weddings and casinos in Las Vegas. His family's enterprise centers in the subway yards of New York City, where subways are serviced and repaired, and graft and duplicity abound.
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