The Yards (15) ****

GRIM, gritty and superbly written, it will come as no surprise if The Yards features in the list when Uncle Oscar comes calling next spring.

An essay on city corruption and big business conspiracy, director (and co-writer) James Gray has extracted a defiantly-human film, intelligent yet uncluttered by delusions of grandeur.

Fresh out of prison, Leo Handler (another fine showing from the increasingly-impressive Mark Wahlberg) turns to his family for help and is set up with a job by his uncle Frank (James Caan), working with long-time friend Willie (Joaquin Phoenix), who is courting Frank's daughter Erica (Charlize Theron).

All well and good, except Frank is chasing contracts with the New York City subway authority and Willie is his unseen arm who deals with the unsavoury stuff that Frank can't be seen to be involved in - like wrecking the work of rival

contractors. On one such raid, Willie finds he can no longer rely on yard staff to turn a blind eye.

Before the night is out, one man lies dead, a cop is in a coma and fingers are being pointed at Leo.

All Leo wants to do is show his mother, Val (Ellen Burstyn), that he can be a good son, but increasingly he is starting to look like a liability to Frank and Willie.

The situation is not helped by the chemistry that obviously exists between him and Erica.

Suddenly Leo is out on a limb. Forced to live in the shadows, he is being hunted not only by the cops, but also by those to whom he turned for safety.

Val refuses the aid of Frank's wife Kitty (Faye Dunaway), her sister, and her health deteriorates.

It's a story that can only end in tragedy. And as Leo is forced to overturn almost everything that he once held to be true, it is the women of the piece who emerge as the real source of power.

All of the principal players perform magnificently - Caan is especially powerful, but Phoenix manages a well rounded show, and Faye Dunaway is better than she has been for years - and the characters' ambiguities are so well drawn that one's sympathies are constantly shifting.

It looks good as well, with wonderful use of colour and light throughout, perfectly capturing the unglamorous mood of the piece.

It is intelligent and multi-layered, book your seats now.