Characterization at its best....!!!!

Rating: 9/10 (28 February 2010)

Any movie which has great effort put upon making the characters damn great always excite me. 3:10 to Yuma has each and every character so well etched that you'll enjoy and stay connected till the very end. Russell Crowe as 'Ben Wade' gives a terrific performance. His wit rides over the senses of the person confronting him. As for Christian Bale(Dan Evans), playing the limped, honest and 'hard to defy person' was not a tough job. He does all of it brilliantly. There's not a single scene in the movie when anyone of the two proves to be better than the other in terms of acting.
The story revolves around Ben Wade who needs to be sent to yuma prison. The train is at 3:10 and the rancher Dan Evans agrees to escort him to the train. In the journey the battle of thoughts and ideologies is persistent and also there are external elements which need to be fought off. This movie sets a perfect example of how thoughts, words and deeds can provoke the good or even the bad amongst any human being. As rightly said "Every way of a man is right in his own eyes but the lord ponders the heart."
Cinematography is excellent. The sound and Background score is also great with superb pieces composed by 'Marco Beltrami'. The director James Mangold does a good job with the flow of the story and characters at a steady pace with a bit of sequence at the end wherein viewers may share mixed reactions.
Coming back to characters, Crowe and Bale have given excellent performances in their respective roles. The fierce intensity of Wade and the lowly intense but highly focused nature of Evans are thoroughly reflected...!!!! Catch this 'train to Yuma' to enjoy watching these two great actors together....!!!!