Early Review of 3:10 To Yuma: Weak Ending Prevents Film from Being Great

3:10 To Yuma, opening Friday September 7th, is a strong Western that deserves mention on the very short list of terrific Westerns made since 1980. It belongs right up there with The Long Riders, Silverado, Unforgiven, Open Range and Tombstone. The genre has long been considered dead after John Wayne died and Clint Eastwood moved on to other genres but one seems to pop up every so often. But yet people stay away for the most part. Of those listed above only Unforgiven was a true hit (helped by its Oscar for Best Picture) while the others failed to find an audience though Tombstone got a second life on video. Maybe this film can revive the genre which deserves a chance if films like this can be produced. Had the film not got mired down in an ending where a key character goes against everything his character has shown us for two hours, it would have been rightfully compared to Clint Eastwood's 1992 Oscar winning masterpiece. It's still a very strong film.

The film, based on a short story by a then upcoming writer named Elmore Leonard is a remake of a mildly popular 1950's film that starred Van Heflin and Glenn Ford. That version is unseen by me so I went in to this film completely unaware of its story. It opens with Christian Bale, who along with his other current release Rescue Dawn is proving quite adept at playing the everyman brought down by the circumstances of life but fights to percervere, plays Dan Evans, a rancher who lost a leg in the Civil War but gets around with a prostesis. He is having hard times thanks to a land owner eager to evict him so the land in which Evans lives can be sold at a higher price to make way for a new railroad. He is good man and a good husband and father to two sons, one an eager teenager and the other a young son with tuberculosis. One night the landlord sends some of his men to burn down Dan's barn promising the house will go next. Dan and his older son rescue the horses and cattle but not before most of them run off. The next morning he sets out to find the missing cattle with his two sons and soon they become witnesses to a stagecoach robbery.

Russell Crowe co-stars as Ben Wade, leader of the group of bandits who has robbed this particular stagecoach 21 times before. So used to being robbed is this stagecoach company that they have men hidden inside armed and ready plus a machine gun in the back. Of course that still isn't enough to stop the bandits. Wade is a lifelong bandit and killer who thinks nothing of killing one of his own men for making a mistake, explaining his error as he pumps a bullet into him. He's also one of those guys that, even in the hopeless face of danger or imprisonment still manages a cocky smile neveronce believing anything bad will happen to him. Wade sees Evans and his sons and commandeers their horses to slow them up from reporting the crime. Maybe Wade isn't so bad. Had the bandit been Frank, the evil killer brilliantly played by Henry Fonda in Sergio Leone's masterpiece Once Upon A Time In The West, you can bet Evans and his sons would have been shot dead.

Wade and his men come to the next town for a whiskey break where Wade's right hand man, Charlie (nicely played by Ben Foster), warns Wade they need to head out fast. Wade, however, catches the eye of a barmaid and soon the two of them are holed up in a room. Soon enough Wade is caught and will be escorted a long distance to catch a train (the 3:10) heading to the prison in Yuma. Evans volunteers to be part of the escort team for a fee that could help him save his home. At the same time Wade's men are trying to track Wade down before he gets to that fateful train ride.

Along the way director James (CopLand, Identity, Walk The Line) incorporates in the classic Western ingredients including a terrific scene involving a surprise night time attack by some vicious Apache indians. There is also the campfire talks where the characters get to know one another and an encounter with another law official whose brother was killed years ago by Wade and has his eye on revenge. This scene, in particular, moves in a completely unexpected and original direction. Mangold continues to impress as a strong director in different genres. He has tackled police drama, thriller, and musical biography quite successfully and proves to be adept at the Western as well.

The final part of the film is, not surprisingly, a gunfight that has been built up the whole movie. Once the group (and Wade's men) arrive in town it is a game of waiting for the right move at the right time as the seconds tick away until the train arrives at the station. Naturally the train happens to be a wee-bit late thus proving that train drivers were unreliable even in the Old West. This final act often resembles the classic High Noon with its race against time to stay alive themes but this film doesn't steal but makes it its own bit with a sly nudge that plays more like an homage.

The film is filled with beautiful cinematography and not the drab, washed out colors sometimes used (sometimes effectively). Some shots are absolutely breathtaking. Mangold also gets strong performances out of his cast. Bale continues to prove his wide range as an actor and seems to get better and better with each film. He has shown he can play these conflicted everymen and still can successfully don the bat suit. It's quite an accomplishment. Crowe is unable to be less then terrific in most any film (even in something less then good like last year's A Good Year). Here he plays the bad guy role with relish and we believe every word and action. I can't wait until November when he plays the good guy opposite bad guy Denzel Washington in Ridley Scott's American Gangster. Ben Foster, as the quietly conniving and violent sidekick of Wade is particularly strong as is Peter Fonda in a small but terrific performance as the wounded stagecoach driver hell bent on making sure Wade is on that train to Yuma. Gretchen Mol (last seen as pinup model Bettie Page) has the thankless role of Bale's wife but she does what she can with it. Luke Wilson has a brief role as a vindictive sherrif's son. The shootout scenes are well paced and not directed in that manic style that seems oddly popular in which the camera shakes so much you can't tell what is what and who is who. Mangold has confidence in his characters and his story to let it play naturally.

My only beef with the film is in its final scenes. One of the characters makes some key decisions that, frankly, are ridiculous considering everything that has happened beforehand. There is just no way, if the character is truly what they claim to be, he would do what he does. It puts a damper on the moment and then the credits roll and the movie is over and you wonder, as you walk out, why Mangold made the choices that he made. Did he think another ending, a more proper ending, would leave audiences feeling down? As it stands now I think a lot of Western fans who see this are going to scratch their heads.

Still this is a terrific film and a great way to kick off the season for movies gearing up for awards. I doubt this film will be remembered then and I have a nagging feeling the film won't do well at the box office. It seems the Western doesn't play for mass audiences unless Clint Eastwood is in it. I hope that changes with 3:10 To Yuma. This is a film that deserves to be seen.