I don't like westerns. Really never have. The fact that "Back to the Future 3" was set as a western made me dislike it even more. "3:10 to Yuma" might be the movie that changes my attitude toward the genre.
With two great performances from Russell Crowe and Christian Bale, "Yuma" would have to work hard to not be good. Crowe stars as Ben Wade, a notorious criminal in the Old West. His gang of thieves have killed and plundered time and again as the railroad tries to move west. Meanwhile, Bale is Dan Evans, the anti-Wade. Dan is a Civil War vet struggling to survive as a rancher while trying to gain the respect of his wife and two sons. He owes money, he can't keep his cattle from dying off, and he lacks confidence in himself.
Ben Wade eventually does get captured by a local posse, and the railroad officials insist that he be hanged for his crimes. To do this, they have to ship Wade off to the prison at Yuma. As if capturing the gang leader hadn't been hard enough, getting him to the train station is an even bigger challenge as Wade's group of thieves is prepared to die in order to free him. With an incentive of $200 pay, a posse, including Evans, is put together to make the trip.
"3:10 to Yuma" is actually more of a psychological battle of wills than it is your traditional western. Ben Wade is no dummy. He knows how to manipulate people just as well as he knows how to handle a gun. At the same time, Evans, despite all of his personal struggles manages to cling to a sense of honor and dignity that he tries to instill in his oldest son (Logan Lerman) who has managed to join the armed escort.
While the first third of the movie establishes the characters and their backgrounds, the other two thirds becomes a race to see who achieves their goal. Will the posse get Wade to the train or will Wade's gang free him first? Can Wade convince Evans to let him go for a bribe rather than continue on the suicide mission? It's a great ride supported by two great actors playing off each other in a battle of wills and personal demons. While I still won't rush out to see the next western, I'm glad I took time to catch "3:10 to Yuma". I give it an A.
"3:10 to Yuma" is rated R with a running time of 117 minutes.
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