3:10 TO YUMA
Director: James Mangold Stars: Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Ben Foster, Peter Fonda, Logan Lerman, Gretchen Mol, Alan Tudyk, Dallas Roberts, Vinessa Shaw, Luke Wilson
Reviewed by GREG KING
Once a staple of the screen, the western is a genre whose day has largely passed. So it’s a pleasant surprise to find a western that is in many ways old fashioned, yet still contemporary enough to satisfy today’s jaded audiences. James Mangold’s muscular and viscerally exciting remake of 1957’s 3:10 To Yuma is also a very violent film that taps into a similar morally ambiguous canvas as those classic westerns of Sergio Leone and Sam Peckinpah. And more importantly it’s that rarity – a remake that is superior to the original. 3:10 To Yuma was originally based on a short story written by Elmore Leonard, who in his early days was a prolific writer of westerns, many of which have been filmed.
Here Russell Crowe and Christian Bale step into the roles originally played by Glenn Ford and Van Heflin, and make them their own. Ben Wade (Crowe) is a vicious outlaw who has robbed numerous stagecoaches and shows no remorse for his actions. Dan Evans (Bale) is a former Civil War hero who is trying to eke out an existence as a farmer. But a drought and crippling debt has made his life hard going and the bank is about to foreclose on the farm. His fourteen-year-old son William (Logan Lerman, last seen in Hoot) has lost all respect for his father, who he views as a weak man, a failure. Wade and Evans cross paths when the bandit steals some of his horses to use to escape from a posse after his latest robbery goes badly awry.
When Wade is subsequently captured, Evans volunteers to help escort him to the town of Contention, where the outlaw will be put on the train to Yuma prison. But the journey is fraught with danger, as Wade’s gang will stop at nothing to rescue him. When the townsfolk also abandon Evans, he is left to bring Wade to the station against impossible odds. The final shootout is exciting enough and vigorously staged. But the ending here is different to the original and may not please some audiences.
The two central performances are excellent, and there is palpable chemistry between Crowe and Bale, who discover that despite their differences, they also have more in common than they would like to admit. Crowe brings a vicious charm and humour to his portrayal of Wade, and again proves that, when allowed to show his nasty side, he makes a good villain. Bale delivers yet another solid and credible performance as Evans, an essentially decent man who desperately wants to prove himself in the eyes of his son, who hero worships Wade.
There is a stellar support cast that includes Peter Fonda, Alan Tudyk, Gretchen Mol, as Evans’ wife, and an uncredited Luke Wilson. Ben Foster (30 Days Of Night, etc) is a standout as Charley Prince, Wade’s psychopathic second in command.
***1/2
Reviewed by PETER MALONE
This is a very fine western, especially at a time when the studios do not make many westerns at all.
Many will have seen the original film, made fifty years earlier, with Glenn Ford and Van Heflin. It was based on a short story by crime writer, Elmore Leonard, and has elements of the crime thriller as well as the western. This version has amplified aspects of the plot and some of the characters.
The two stars, Christian Bale and Russell Crowe, are excellent. Russell Crowe, as the ruthless gunfighter, seems natural in his role. But Christian Bale, who has shown such versatility in recent films like Batman Begins and Harsh Times, stands out as the rancher who is coming to the end of his tether.
The crime background of the film is fairly straightforward. Ben Wade (Crowe) and his gang have robbed stagecoaches 21 times. Despite a Pinkerton agent and a gatling gun, Wade ambushes a 22nd. Dan Evans (Bale) and his two sons come upon the robbery and their horses are taken for an escape. Later, Evans is instrumental in the arrest of Wade. The challenge is to evade his gang and a rescue as they travel to the rail head through the desert and mountains so that Wade can be put on the 3:10 to Yuma train for prison.
Dan Evans is an upright man, a Massachusetts guard who lost his leg during the Civil War and the defence of Washington. He owes money and a greedy creditor who sees the coming railroad making land more valuable wants to get rid of Evans and his family. The film opens with the burning of their barn.
One of the amplifications from the original which makes this film very interesting is the character of the older son, William, a fourteen year old boy who despises his father as weak and submissive and who is attracted by the often suave manner of Ben Wade. The boy is instrumental in the journey to the rail head and has to re-evaluate his father.
Evans is a man of principle. Van Heflin stood out fifty years ago as the embodiment of a good man, a decent man. In fact, the word decent is often used in this version as well as conscience. Christian Bale brings a seriousness and commitment to this man of decency.
This means that the film, which does have action, quite violent, especially the desperate climactic shootout as Evans tries to get Wade from the hotel to the station, under fire from the gang and the townspeople, is more of a psychological western, a battle of conscience and wits between the two men. And the film does not opt for easy answers, leaving the audience pondering the moral dilemmas they have seen and their consequences.
The Arizona scenery is impressively photographed, especially during the trek. The fine supporting cast includes Peter Fonda as the Pinkerton agent and Ben Foster, really sinister, even creepy, as Wade’s second in command.
3:10 To Yuma is a cinema parable about conscience and moral choices.
Reviewed by MARCUS SINCLAIR
For years now the wise-acres have been declaring that the Western is dead, but like the proverbial bad penny it keeps on turning up. The latest to appear is the 3:10 To Yuma. It's a remake of the Delmer Davis 1957 film – an interesting, but grossly over-rated work that was long on talk and short on action. The stars, Van Heflin and Glenn Ford, turned in admirable performances which brought their characters to life.
James Mangold, the director, has filled out his film considerably with various settings and sequences ranging from the open countryside, to the homestead, frontier towns and mining camps, with incidents concerning renegade apaches, robbery of the stage-coach, barn burning, and railway construction. There is plenty of action and he handles it well, as he does the building of tension with the transporting of the outlaw leader to the railway station.
The players: Russell Crowe, a ruthless killer and the leader of the outlaws, is excellent as is Christian Bale, the homesteader who is determined to see that he is on the 3:10 train to Yuma and to the State prison. But the star performer is Crowe's lieutenant and confident Ben Foster, a cold-blooded fanatic who is prepared to go to any length to rescue his boss. His attitude and actions freeze the very marrow in your bones.
With this film the old West has been brought vividly to life. The players have the appearance of actually living and belonging to their locales, and the towns and buildings have a rough and ready frontier appearance. The people who inhabit these have two concerns, (1) staying alive and (2) making money. Existence for them is, as Thomas Hobbes the English philosopher so aptly stated: "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short."
Some of the incidents in the film don't quite work - the romance between Crowe and the woman in the saloon; the hounding and shooting that takes place on the way to the railway station (supposedly great shots, but they keep missing their real target); the relationship between Bale and his wife needs further filling out; and the ending, itself, with Crowe's sudden change in behaviour. Yet his whistling to his horse was a neat touch as the train pulls away.
For all its faults it’s great to have the Western back with us. May there be many more of them flashing upon our silver screens in the not-too-distant future.