3:10 to Yuma

Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Peter Fonda, Gretchen Mol, Ben Foster, Alan Tudyk, Logan Lerman

Dir. James Mangold
Scr. Halsted Welles, Michael Brandt & Derek Haas (based on the short story by Elmore Leonard)

3:10 to Yuma is a sharp, action-packed, somewhat uneven western, with some good acting and a rubbish ending. Crowe and Bale are perfectly on-song, and are supported by a strong cast. I like a good western, and 3:10 to Yuma is close enough to being one to have entertained me. Don’t expect cinematic brilliance, but do expect a good night out.

Dan Evans (Bale), a small-time, struggling, one-legged rancher and Civil War veteran signs on to join a small group of men whose job it is to make sure outlaw Ben Wade (Crowe) catches the 3:10 train to Yuma, where he will be tried and hung for a slew of hold-ups and murders. The film follows their journey, and focuses on the battle of wills between Evans and Wade – Wade trying to corrupt the rancher; Evans trying his darnest to get Wade on that train and collect his $200 reward. Tagging along for the ride is, among others, Evans’ teenage son (Lerman) who has long since lost respect for his father and starts to see Wade as someone worth looking up to. Hot on their tail is Wade’s gang, led (in Wade’s absence) by the psychotic Charlie Prince (Foster), hell-bent on freeing Wade and killing anyone who gets in their way.

As in any good western, there is much of a moral nature to ponder – is Wade all bad? Is Evans all good? What will a man do when he is pushed to his limit? Evans is, by far, the most interesting and complex character and his journey is extremely compelling. Wade seems more clear-cut, but in the end, changes in a way that is simply unbelievable - sorry, I just didn’t buy it. The ending of 3:10 to Yuma does not entirely ruin what has come before, but it does make you exclaim “WTF?!” and feel slightly ripped off by the filmmakers. This would have been a finer film if it had ended differently. Just don’t ask me how I would have ended it …

The acting in this film is very solid indeed. There are some great turns by the supporting cast. Peter Fonda is simply a joy to watch, as a weathered and grizzly bounty-hunter. Alan Tudyk injects some humour and light to an otherwise heady story. Gretchen Mol gives an excellent performance as Evans’ wife. Ben Foster is chilling as Wade’s showy and ruthless right-hand man. Lerman is very good as William, the wide-eyed teenage son of Evans. The film really does hinge, however, on the performances of and relationship between Crowe and Bale. Crowe was clearly having fun as the confident, badass Wade and plays the role with relish. Bale, tackling a more nuanced and morally ambiguous character, is simply excellent in this film. More proof, if any was needed, that Bale is one of the finest actors of his generation. The film benefits from the almost tangible chemistry between Crowe and Bale.

The “shoot-em-up” in 3:10 to Yuma is perhaps a bit heavy-handed in parts. And it wasn’t as dusty and grimy as it perhaps should have been. But, all in all, this film feels and looks like a western of old. It could certainly have been 15 minutes or so shorter – perhaps they could have cut out the bad ending altogether! But these criticisms aside, I enjoyed this film and recommend it to anyone who is a fan of the western genre.

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Ben Wade: You ever read the bible, Dan? I read it one time. I was eight years old. My daddy just got hisself killed over a shot of whiskey and my mama said "we're going back East to start over". So she gave me a bible, sat me down in the train station, told me to read it. She was gonna get our tickets. Well, I did what she said. I read that bible from cover to cover. It took me three days. She never came back.