3:10 to Yuma

3:10 to Yuma - Trailer - Watch more free videos


So, I finally got around to watching this film the other day. A Western starring Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, that is directed by James Mangold, and based of a short story by Elmore Leonard! Plus, the original film was pretty awesome, sign me up!

The story revolves around a down on his luck rancher, Dan Evans, (another amazing performance by Christian Bale. Why does this guy not have an Oscar yet?) who lost a portion of his leg in the Civil War. In order to save the family farm, and to win back the respect of his oldest son (who feels his father is a coward), he agrees to help escort outlaw Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) to Contention Arizona where Wade will take the 3:10 train to Yuma prison. Along the way, the posse (which also includes Peter Fonda in a role that shows he can still act, contrary to what the rest of his recent filmography might say) is slowly picked off by Wade as he makes several escape attempts. Evans' oldest son (played rather well by Logan Lerman) winds up joining the posse, against the wishes of his father. The final act comprises of a fairly fresh take on the traditional Western shoot outs that we have come to expect from this genre of film.

The acting here is top notch across the board. Christian Bale, as already stated, does a tremendous job of portraying a husband and a father with something to prove. There is a scene at the end of the movie where he is trying to talk his son into turning around and leaving that is absolutely breathtaking. Bale conveys more emotion with a slight change in expression than most actors can ever possibly hope to display. Russell Crowe does a phenomenal job of playing a different kind of "bad guy" and you can tell he loves every second of it. The other star of the show is Ben Foster who is probably best known for playing Angel in the underwhelming third Xmen movie. Here he plays Wade's right hand man, Charlie Prince, with a manic energy that entices the viewer into watching not turning away, even when he is committing a gruesome act of violence.

This film, being a Western that is not Little House on the Prairie, is quite violent. People are shot and stabbed and what not. There is also a fair amount of swearing, but not enough to qualify as gratuitous. (BTW, get one of these if you are a Christian movie nerd. You can find them at Target for cheaper. Well worth the price.)

I can not recommend this movie enough. If you have not already seen it (it's box office draw was not near what it should have been) you really should go check it out.

9.5 / 10