3:10 to Yuma
BY Ryan LaMarca / 2008-03-26
The 2007 remake of "3:10 to Yuma" took most people by surprise. I mean, a western in 2007? The genre has been practically dead for almost twenty-five years aside from a few number of big budget films thrown in every couple of years. And most of all, it sneaked up on me completely until I was looking at movie times and saw this odd looking title and thought to myself, "What the heck is that?" But I've always been a western fan, especially of classic western movies, so when I looked it up, I knew I had to see it. The movie created quite a buzz and everyone was predicting that "3:10 to Yuma" would eat up all the awards at the Oscars. Interestingly enough, the original movie which starred Glenn Ford and Van Heflin originally came out in 1957, fifty years earlier.
When big-time outlaw Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) gets arrested after holding up a stagecoach near Bisbee, destitute rancher Dan Evans (Christian Bale) volunteers to help guard and transport him to his destination: the 3:10 train to Yuma Prison, in order to get enough money save his land and house from the railroad. Evans, who lost one leg during the war, is also eager to prove himself to his son, Will, who considers his father to be a joke. All in the meanwhile, Wade's dangerous gang of outlaws, now headed by Charlie Prince (Ben Foster), is on its way to set him free and kill his captors. But if that wasn't enough, Indians, posses, and the terrain all mean to stop these people from delivering Wade to prison.
What helps distinguish this "3:10 to Yuma" from most other westerns is the strong characterization given to the two leads thanks in part to the movie's length of around two hours. In more traditional classic westerns, the hero is good, the villain is bad. That's it. And while Ben Wade, here, is clearly bad, he's not all bad, and that idea is discussed over the course of the film. Wade exists more in the gray area than in black or white, good or evil. Actually, as you see him progress during his journey, I kind of started to like him as a character. Unlike most villains, he's a likeable character. He knows how to smooth talk himself in any situation and he knows how to get information indirectly out of people around him, something that comes in quite handy on a number of occasions. Now, on the other hand, his second-in-command Charlie Prince is all bad. Unlike Wade, he has no good or redeeming qualities whatsoever, and that's the reason nobody likes this character and probably wants him to die.
There's some great performances in here from both Russell Crowe and Christian Bale, who's really got his career going now ever since "Batman Begins." Bale's character especially gets really beaten up, physically and psychologically. His son has no respect for him, the railroad is going to take his land, his wife is losing interest, and now he has to deal with taking care of this criminal. The chemistry between Crowe and Bale is great, especially when their two characters begin to work together for a change.
The movie accurately recreates the Old West reminiscent of old school classic westerns. We'll never get the same kind of movies like we did back years ago and we'll never get new westerns that can rival some of John Wayne's classic movies. The only thing that I really didn't enjoy about "3:10 to Yuma" was the length. It could have been shortened just a little bit to cut out the excess dragging on of particular scenes. However, when the action gets going, the movie is great. There's loads of surprises packed in and it seems like the heroes can barely get a break. But when they do, boy does it begin to slow down. That's the main problem with the movie is the pacing in the non-action oriented scenes. Another thing I wanted to bring up is that as much as I liked the movie, it just isn't as fantastic as most people will have you believe. It's not perfect, but it's still great fun and very entertaining.
Lionsgate did a decent job loading the DVD with special features. First up is the audio commentary with director James Mangold. It's decent enough, but more casual fans should maybe head over to the featurettes, as there are quite a few to choose from as well as a couple of deleted scenes. Three featurettes are featured on the standard DVD, one is the typical making-of style documentary while the other two deal more with the history of the Old West and the stories of famous western heroes. If you really want a lot more special features then I suggest you check out the Blu-ray edition of the film, which contains an extra seven features.
The most surprising aspect of "3:10 to Yuma" is that it didn't garner tons of awards like everyone had speculated earlier. In fact, it barely even got nominated for anything. At the 2008 Oscars, it was nominated for two measly awards in sound and original score, but lost in both. Regardless, "3:10 to Yuma" is one of the best modern westerns that have popped up in awhile and it's definitely worth checking out. And though I can't compare it to the original 1957 movie which I haven't seen, this new adaptation is still a good movie and has a great message about the typical western code of honor and conduct. It's a very strong movie, although it has a few minor flaws here and there, but nothing enough to seriously deter a recommendation.
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