Russell Crowe stars as Ben Wade, an outlaw gang leader who quotes proverbs from the bible when he’s not robbing the payroll stagecoach right out from under the Pinkerton agents’ noses. Yet Wade’s knowledge of the bible doesn’t save him from getting captured by the self-same Pinkerton agents after he spends some time with a filly he meets in a saloon. Once in custody, it’s arranged for Wade to be taken to the town of Contention, where he’ll be placed aboard the 3:10 to Yuma train. The train will in turn drop Wade off at the infamous Yuma prison, where his neck will get terminally stretched.
Christian Bale co-stars as Dan Evans, a one-legged rancher who’s fallen on hard times. Thanks to a prolonged drought, Evan’s ranch is as parched as a riverbed in the high desert during summertime. With no way to support his family, Evans is only happy to sign on with the posse that’s taking Wade to meet with the train. He’ll get $200 out of the deal, which will go a long way to helping his family by paying off some debt. But Evans has no idea of the wild ride that’s in store for him and the other members of the posse.
3:10 To Yuma is a fun return to the Hollywood westerns of old. Director James Mangold keeps the movie’s pace moving at a fast clip, and it’s filled with plenty of gun battles, chases, horses and even a great pondering upon a man’s duty. Yet there’s still a realism present here that’s lacking in many of the old-time westerns. According to Mangold’s remake, all actions have consequences--even noble ones--and this aspect is very intelligently addressed. The cast, led by Crowe and Bale, is marvelous, with Peter Fonda showing up as an ornery old bounty hunter; Firefly’s Alan Tuduk is good as a country doctor who gets caught up in the gunplay, and Ben Foster turns in another great performance as Charlie Prince, Wade’s homicidal second in command of the gang.
The gunplay is very well done, and the sets, costumes and overall ambience is convincing enough to make you believe you’re watching a story that’s set in the 1800s. The special features include a slew of making of documentaries that often show twenty first century solutions to bringing the nineteenth century to life. Both the cast and crew are very enthusiastic about appearing in and making an old-school western in this day and age. And Russell Crowe wryly notes at one point about how his horse (an old veteran of westerns) taught him how to behave. 3:10 to Yuma is an enjoyable lark, an action/adventure set within an era that’s been romanticized by Hollywood since it first started making movies.
--SF
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