3:10 to Yuma

I am the last person in the world to willingly watch a western, usually. I have never found the appeal of them honestly. However, Christian Bale makes interesting acting choices that make any movie he does worth watching, so I was interested in this movie. I have always maintained the opinion that Russell Crowe was mostly overrated, but there was something about him in the trailer to this movie that made me think this would be a good thing for him. I also happen to know that both Bale and Crowe are serious horse riders so I knew it would look real when they were on the horses. With the hopes of studio westerns riding squarely on the back of this movie, would it be worth it? Could this be the movie that brings back the western?


Dan Evans(Bale)is a father of three living a very poor life. His ranch hasn't had water for the crops or for the cows and he owes money to the wrong people and at the beginning of the movie these men burn down his barn and let his cows out. Evans and his two sons, William(Logan Lerman) and Mark(Benjamin Petry) set off to find the cows. It is obvious William looks down on his down trodden broken father and it is obvious Dan Evans knows that his son feels this way. Dan also only has one leg as he lost one in the civil war. While searching for their cows they come across a robbery, a brutal great gun fight having robbery. The band of thieves is led by Ben Wade(Crowe) and his right hand man Charlie Prince (Ben Foster). Wade and Evans have a brief exchange as Evans asks for his cattle back and Wade telling him he can have them. Evans finds a bounty hunter still alive after the robbery and as his kids take the cattle back, he takes the bounty hunter into a town to get him looked after. In town Evans and wade have another brief exchange before the cops catch Wade. It seems Wade has robbed 22 carriages full of money and also killed various people along the way. The train men have a lot of interest in Wade because he is mostly robbing carriages carrying money from the train men. Grayson Butterfield (Dallas Roberts) offers money to anyone who will help take Wade in and get him on the 3:10 to Yuma train. Evans is in desperate need of the money so he goes along with it. On their journey, Evans and co. deal with Wade killing two of the members, Apache Indians, people who want Wade dead without a trial and of course Wade's own gang. In the end it is just Evans versus Wade's whole gang as Wade feels the sense of duty to do this. He also wants to show his son (who showed up later trying to help his dad) that he isn't worthless.


This movie is a character study drama wrapped under the guise of action film. Don't worry there are a few truly great old west shoot outs, especially the beginning and the climax, but this is a drama about good and evil and the human condition. Watching Bale as a man at the very end of sanity, depressed and injured, is something wonderful to behold. Never do we stop feeling bad for him but there is one moment in particular as he is whispering to Crowe that gave me goosebumps. His dedication, intensity and honesty come through the whole time and help us really want him to succeed in his mission. By contrast, Crowe plays his villain with a sense of ease and charm. However, he also plays him with levels and gives a very human side to this notorious killer. it would have been so easy to chew scenery and be big and bold here, but he went the complete opposite direction. Half way through the movie it starts to play with our senses of right and wrong and it only works because of how good Crowe is here. The chemistry between Bale and Crowe really push the movie forward as we watch them go through different phases of life together, eventually forming somewhat of a friendship. The acting all the way around help make this movie one of the best movies I have seen this year. Ben Foster (resident crazy person) is totally compelling as the Wade right hand man. We believe whole-heartedly that he is willing to kill anyone and do whatever it takes to get Wade back. He is also the reason we start to believe that maybe Wade is not really so bad and that he is just unsure of himself and is being lead by Prince's crazy demeanor.


This movie is constantly bursting with intensity and urgency, even in the slower moments which is a testament to director, James Mangold. He finds a way to keep things moving even in moments where people are just talking. Things are never calm through this whole movie and it really is what makes this movie so very good. It may not bring the western back but it deserves to. This movie is absolutely fantastic in every way and the final 20 minutes are thrilling, heart breaking and interesting in a way few movies are these days. Christian Bale and Russell Crowe are both in top notch here and one can only hope that they will find a way to work together again because they really fit well on screen together.