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3:10 to Yuma (2007)
Directed by: James Mangold Starring: Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Peter Fonda, Alan Tudyk
Synopsis: Dan Evans lost his leg during the Civil War, and is about to lose his farm to a ruthless landowner. When his path crosses with famous outlaw Ben Wade, he has the chance to redeem himself both financially and in the eyes of his son, by joining the posse that will escort Ben to the prison train, the titular 3:10 to Yuma. Unfortunately, neither Ben nor his gang are going to make it easy for them to get there...
Review:
Decent Westerns are unfortunately too few and far between, in my opinion. The last one to come by these parts was Kevin Costner's overlooked epic, Open Range. So it's unsurprising that director James Mangold tries to fit in every Western cliche into his movie, to give them all a good airing. Who knows when we might see them again? The movie is just about greater than the sum of its many parts. We have horseback chases, gun fights, even an attack by injuns, and plenty of standoffs between Wade and everyone else. Keeping this all reigned in are a bunch of stellar perfomances, from the two leads and a great supporting cast featuring Peter Fonda as a grizzled bounty hunter, Alan Tudyk as the local doctor/vet and Ben Foster as Ben Wade's lieutenant, Charlie Prince. As charismatic as Ben Wade may be, he is not a nice guy, despite his talent at drawing portraits. The classic thing is that he doesn't try to hide the fact, although his intelligence and quick wit keep lulling the posse into underestimating him. Russell Crowe puts so much life into the role that the audience are lulled into cheering for him even when they know they shouldn't - it's kind of like Paul Whitehouse's "loveable rascal" from tv's The Fast Show.
This means of course that Christian Bale has a steep slope to climb in order to keep up and win back our sympathy. We know he's earnest, and good, and wants his kids to respect him again. Of all the posse, Dan is the one who sees Ben for what he is, and treats him with the respect his actions demand. There is plenty of action along the route to the train, from maruading indians to vigilantes trying to mete out their own justice, to the eventual gauntlet to the train. Even so, it still feels just a little too long in getting there, with perhaps one round too many in the power struggle between Wade and Evans, as they try to psych out each other.
Verdict: An appealing mix of action and quality story telling, with two of the biggest stars facing off against each other. This bodes well for future westerns making it on to the silver screen. 7 out of 10 (Review by MikeOutWest)
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