3:10 to Yuma is a great throwback to a classic movie genre—the Western. This James Mangold directed version is a remake of a 1957 Western Classic of the same title. The story in turn is based on a short story by Elmore Leonard. With such background then, 3:10 to Yuma has much to live up to and happily for us, delivers and then some.
It’s the story of Dan Evans a down and out rancher who is desperate to raise enough money to save his farm from being seized by his creditors and his family from starvation. When the notorious murdered and train robber Ben Wade is captured, Evans agrees to form part of Wade’s escort to the Yuma train station that will put Wade on his way to justice. Along the way he has to contend with the continuous decrease in their numbers, the threat posed by Wade’s dangerous band and the danger to his son, who has heedlessly decided to join them. At the end, Evans is the only one left to stand against Wade’s band as he attempts to bring Wade to justice.
It’s the story of Dan Evans a down and out rancher who is desperate to raise enough money to save his farm from being seized by his creditors and his family from starvation. When the notorious murdered and train robber Ben Wade is captured, Evans agrees to form part of Wade’s escort to the Yuma train station that will put Wade on his way to justice. Along the way he has to contend with the continuous decrease in their numbers, the threat posed by Wade’s dangerous band and the danger to his son, who has heedlessly decided to join them. At the end, Evans is the only one left to stand against Wade’s band as he attempts to bring Wade to justice.
There is no doubt that this is a gripping and excellent movie with electrifying performances from Christian Bale (who plays Dan Evans) and Russell Crowe, as Ben Wade. While this is a Western, it has a more modern sensibility by including in the movie, an assiduous character study of two men who are vastly different from each other. Crowe does an excellent job of playing the outlaw Wade, notorious and brutal but capable of hidden sensitivity, and even charm. Such is Crowe’s skill that we see the hidden depths to his character that make him more than just a murderous outlaw. Bale as his foil more than holds his own by giving a textured and layered performance of an ordinary person trying to do what is good and regain his lost esteem. He does a superb job of illustrating the movie’s theme of an ordinary person struggling to do the right thing despite the high cost of doing such a thing. What a treat to see two such gifted performers together on the screen. Another treat for the viewer is the inclusion of Peter Fonda who fits his role as an ornery mercenary to a tee.
The cinematography does an excellent job of capturing the brutal Western landscape with its ochre and brown mountains and the people covered perpetually in a coating of grime and dust. Credit also goes to James Mangold who has crafted an exciting and intelligent film with flashes of sly humor that combines together all the best of the Western film genre.
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