3:10 to Yuma (2007)

Rating: 10/10 (24 January 2008)

I suppose it ought to said that I like westerns when they're done well. "Unforgiven," "High Noon," "The Magnificent Seven," "Open Range," "The Searchers," and I could go on a bit more. They share, for me, an exploration of character that the oater genre is perfectly placed to deliver because it's the culture where the influence of law is always five days away or right on the main street but incapable of providing the legal force and moral imperative needed. A man becomes judge and jury to fill that vacuum and, in the process, we get to watch the lines that define hero and villain shift and reform. But enough gobbledygook.
Russell Crowe's Ben Wade is riveting. He's God and the devil, charming and menacing, petty and generous, and some other contrasts. Crowe develops Ben Wade into the man who slaughters his gang of cutthroats one moment, boards the Yuma prison train to pay respect to Dan Evans, and then whistles for his horse like the Lone Ranger summoning Silver to rescue him from the cliff face. Christian Bale is equally compelling as the rancher wrestling with his own set of values, a moral man needing to justify himself to the outlaw. In sharp contrast is the completely evil Charlie Prince. Ben Foster is two-gun Darth Vader; he owns every moment he's on screen. "3:10 to Yuma" is a visually appealing story, directed with understanding. It even has Peter Fonda showing his skills and not enough of beautiful Gretchen Mol. Unlike some, I didn't care much for Logan Lerman's William Evans. I guess I've seen enough of hormone-ravaged teenagers taking it out on their parents. This picture was so good, I went out and bought the Glenn Ford original and got to appreciate it all over again. Thanks, James Mangold; it was a great ride.