3:10 To Yuma is One of the Best Westerns of the Past Decade

Starring Russell Crowe (Gladiator, A Beautiful Mind) and Christian Bale (Batman Begins, Prestige), 3:10 to Yuma is fun enough, smart enough and wild enough to be ranked as one the best westerns in the last decade.

As westerns go, the best ones have a protagonist who is not exactly blue-collar; the man with no name in Sergio Leone's "spagetti" westerns (Good, Bad, and The Ugly, A Fistful of Dollars), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Doc Holiday in such exciting westerns as Tombstone, William Money in Unforgiven. These characters follow their own rules. By the end, some of these anti-heroes will turn out to look like the ultimate hero. Some turn out to be no different than when they first appeared in the movie. Some can never change their ways and still look like the coolest guy on the planet. That's how Ben Wade (Crowe) looks like by the end of this fantastic western. In fact, it's almost like he grows a conscience - even if it doesn't last, the impact on the audience is unmistakable.

It all starts out when Ben Wade and his band of gun-slinging, murderous bandits takes down a coach full of railroad money. The coach is led by a bounty hunter, Byron McElroy (Peter Fonda) who is trying to bring Ben Wade and company to justice. He obviously doesn't know who he's dealing with. Sure Byron's got a gattling gun but do you think that's going to stop a man like Ben Wade? No way. Wade is no sucker. Wade is a great shot. And, Wade seems to be able to smell a trap a mile away. Needless to say, Wade and company steal the money, leave McElroy for dead, and takes a local rancher's horses within an hour.

Everything becomes interesting when that same rancher, Dan Evans (Bale) captures Wade at gun point. From here on out what happens is sorely in the hands of the storytellers. This is a welcome diversion from such predictable drivel as Spider-Man 3 or the Pirates of the Caribbean films. Evans and a group of lawmen led by Byron McElroy travel toward a town with Ben Wade. It's in this town where Wade will wait to catch a 3:10 train to Yuma - for his hanging. Bale's Dan Evans is a very blue-collar man who doesn't get a lot of respect from his son. He wants to uphold the law but he doesn't want anyone to die in the process. His son's perspective of 'shoot first and ask questions later' is constantly in conflict with Dan's sensibilities. Being all decent in the old west may be nice fantasy, but it may get you and your family killed.

All throughout this trip to that train ride to Yuma, Wade is constantly shaking things up, testing the resolves of characters, and even trying to get his captures to snap. They do and all Ben Wade does is laugh. He even breaks free a number of times and a few of the lawmen are killed in the process. But it's hard not to respect a man who always has such a cool demeanor. When they arrive at the train, we know so much more about Wade and Evans, we can't help but care about them just as much as we all cared about Butch and Sundance. They are two very different people. They've done very different things with their lives. But we know that both of these men are good at heart.

My thoughts

3:10 to Yuma isn't a thrill ride like say, Tombstone. It's more of a thinker's western. They don't want the audience to care about Ben Wade - at least until the end. In fact, it's hard to fully understand Bale's Evans enough to care about him. Is this a mistake? Was this the intention of the filmmakers? Whatever the intent was, it works to the film's advantage. You definitely believe that these characters are in the old west. At times, it's easy to feel like you're right there alongside them. The writing is brilliant. The acting is top-notch, especially from Crowe and Bale. But unfortunately, the directing wasn't very inspired. I respected director James Mangold's vision of Johnny Cash in Walk the Line. There's nothing groundbreaking about his directing, but it certainly tells the story.

Final note

There hasn't been a western of this caliber for almost a decade. I can't help but recommend this to any western fan, Crowe fan, Bale fan or film fan. It's just a very smart movie that you won't regret paying 5 to 9 dollars to see. Beware: It is a remake but at least it doesn't feel like one.