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Directed By
James Mangold
Written By:
Elmore Leonard, Halsted Welles, Michael Brandt, Derek Haas
Cast:
Christian Bale, Russell Crowe, Ben Foster, Gretchen Mol, Alan Tudyk, Logan Lerman, Peter Fonda, Vinessa Shaw, Kevin Durand, Johnny Whitworth, Dallas Roberts, Lennie Loftin, Henry Herman, Luce Rains, Hugh Elliot, Darren Gibson, Chris Browning, Girard Swan, Chad Brummett, Mark Wallace, Cherlyn Schaefer, Benjamin Petry, Jason Henning, Harp Corrigan, Billy Lockwood, Billy Lockwood, Kc King, Shawn Howell
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3:10 To Yuma (2007)
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Movie Review by Thom
May 12th, 2008
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Derails Along the Way
Favorite Movie Quote: "When you think about it, which I have been lately, is they weren't paying me to walk away; They were paying me so they could walk away."
There's such rich, fertile soil in the western genre that it disappoints me that, rather than plant and harvest something fresh, we get a thawed out rehash of yesteryear's leftovers. I understand that studios, which spend tens and sometimes hundreds of millions of dollars on films, like to hedge their bets, but 3:10 to Yuma relies on contrivance and convenience rather than originality and plain horse sense.
3:10 to Yuma features rancher Dan Evans (Christian Bale) as an owner of a failing ranch, father to an unappreciative son (Logan Lerman), and husband in love with an unreciprocating wife (Gretchen Mol). Behind on payments for his land that the owner would sooner sell to the railroad, Evans leaps at an opportunity to escort all around rotten bannana, robber, and killer Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) to Contention, Arizona where Wade can be shipped off to Yuma Prison on the 3:10 train. Hellbent to free Ben is his gang of miscreants led by Charlie Prince (Ben Foster).
The strength of 3:10 to Yuma is the characters and the actors playing them. Bale's Evans has a motivation to which is easy to relate; the same goes for his young, dumb, and full of [fire] son, William, and railroad man Buttersfield (Dallas Roberts). Alien to most moviegoers are the motivations of the killers, but that's what makes them the more interesting characters: Wade, Prince, and old leather-faced Pinkerton McElroy (Peter Fonda).
The weakness of 3:10 to Yuma is the deliberate intentions of the story that are at odds with the characters' motivations. It's clear that the filmmakers wanted to steer the film towards the destination at which it ultimately arrives for the purpose of the big showcase finale, but too many times our characters, specifically Wade and Evans, have opportunities to solve their dilemma in far more efficient ways. I'm not saying don't have a big shoot-out at the end of the western, I'm just saying that there shouldn't be so many untried methods of avoiding the suicide run hanging in the wind.
Furthermore, it seems a really big pain in the ass to risk the lives of good men just to get a rotten one to his hangin', and after Wade kills the first of the party taking him to Contention, I'd have shot the f*cker in the foot.
3:10 to Yuma had a lot going for it, at times getting a full head of steam, but ultimately derails on its way to the station.
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