Banal.

Rating: 6/10 (27 October 2007)

In all fairness,the major portion of the disappointment is associated with the expectations that go with a venture like this.One would expect a thrilling mental bout between Ben Wade(Russel Crowe) and Dan Evans(Christian Bale),instead what we are treated to a very banal western fare.
The biggest folly of this film being that it tries to be deeper than it actually is.Much like the recent soporific,monologue-ridden "The Brave One".Dan Evans is a troubled rancher,with debts and family problems,the usual,the usual and Ben Wade is a cutthroat bandit(if you can ever call Russel Crowe that!)with a infamous reputation for being ruthless and unmerciful(and still takes a liking towards a nondescript Dan Evans).Not much of a premise,still we'll buy anything for a good narrative.Again there we are disappointed as we endure the main characters going from place to place shooting up stuff and being impervious to bullets,while the unimportant ones get killed on the way.
Its not all bad though,the only reason one can sit through this 2-hour long movie is for the charismatic Russel Crowe and the very talented Christian Bale.They really carry off their performances with aplomb.Its really a pity they didn't have a better story to act to.And other characters are hardly noticed,for example,all Ben Foster(Charlie Prince,second-in-command to Ben Wade)does is try to look scary in front of men twice his size and shoot anything moving with his ever accurate aim.He was better off as a junkie in "Alpha Dog".
Its really disappointing to see a movie with so much potential laid to waste.What could have been a modern western classic with characters foraying into each others' minds is turned into a mediocre action film with an incredulously shallow story line,improbable plot and unnecessary amount of gunfire(most of them not finding their mark on the only two fleeing targets,Obviously Ben and Dan).