An old fashioned steak with no fat

Rating: 8/10 (9 August 2009)

There's desert. There's mountains. There's good guys and bad guys. There's a plot, a simple ticking bomb style story with plenty of gun play, cracking dialog and superior violent action. One would expect nothing less from a Western, especially a remake of a classic.
This is a simple time-honored popcorn movie with updated character depth which reaches surprising poignancy by the conclusion, particularly by the 'is he or isn't he' a bad guy, Russell Crowe. As in life, I think we're still trying to figure that one out.
Christian Bale is a Civil War hero with a fake leg; a rancher simply trying to support his family. However he's being elbowed off his land to make way for progress, all he needs is cash to restore his farm and his pride, particularly for his two impressionable boys.
Enter, Russell Crowe. The subsequent meeting of the two central figures is not exactly unpleasant. What evolves is a curios character study of the unchanging and also shifting nature of ideals. You can see why the accomplished leads were attracted to the script.
Director James Mangold (Walk the Line, Heavy) is competent and keeps the action moving whilst never losing sight of where the real story lies.
As is often the case with big Hollywood stars at the center, a number of the supporting cast are allowed to stretch, Ben Foster (Six Feet Under) as Crowe's right hand man and in particularly an indistinguishable Peter Fonda who often dominates the scenes he's in.
It's tense as you would hope from a ticking bomb film, even Crowe wryly observes, 'You can't stop time.' Thankfully the two leads ensure it's more than just a thrilling journey, it's a stimulating one; almost a precursor for Stockholm Syndrome. Almost.
An old fashioned steak with no fat, as Crowe's character says, 'I hate the gristle.'