3:10 to Disneyland

Rating: Null/10 (26 January 2008)

Up until a specific turning point I really, really enjoyed this movie. A poor and crippled farmer who is trying to raise money to his farm and at the same time wanting to restore some self-respect decides to escort a criminal to a train in a small town with a small group of men. It's a long way to the train and on the way the farmer and the criminal develop some sympathy towards each other. It is something that the criminal is in denial of which is made explicit in a scene where he is confronted by the farmer's son who believes that he has seen some acts of the prisoner that shows that he is also a "good" person. This he denies. The sympathy that develops between the two has been seen before, I personally came to think of "the contract" in where Cusack takes his son on a trekking trip and during this they find an escaped convict (Morgan Freeman) which he decides to deliver to the police and thereby regaining the respect from his son. The challenge is to understand why that sympathy develops. As I see it the farmer is somewhat bitter because his life hasn't turned out well despite the fact that he is honest. Therefore I think that he secretly admires Ben Wade who totally disregards society and maybe he doesn't find it difficult to identify with him - he has the same urge himself and maybe he has even played with the thought of becoming an outlaw. On the other hand you have the prisoner who meets the farmer's family and very quickly understands his situation. The knowledge that he gets from the visit is at first used in a scene where he tries to bribe him but later on I think that he both respects him for his courage and - as the rest of us -understands the necessity behind his choice to escort him to the train.
So far so very, very good. But the before mentioned turning point is so radical that I found it impossible to believe and therefore my summarization is "3:10 to Disneyland" because it becomes way to sentimental and pathetic. The turning point I am referring to is the scene where Ben Wade decides that he no longer will fight the farmer but instead actively help getting on the train in order for him to win the respect of his son who is watching. When you think about it its actually quite sad that the farmer has to risk his own life to get some respect. That Ben Wade now has had some "corrective emotional" experience that has made him one of the good guys to the point where he is willing to get hanged is beyond my wildest comprehension.
And that he finally decides to gun down his own gang - although they are lawless - is again way to difficult for me to comprehend.
To summarize I must still say that I was very much entertained and that I really enjoyed the movie - especially the dialogue which I think there was put a lot of effort into. I will recommend it and although you end up agreeing with some of my thoughts it doesn't necessarily make the movie a lousy one.
Regards Simon
ps. Very nice seeing Peter Fonda again.
PPs. When you read reviews that gives max score check to see if the user has made more than one review. If not consider the possibility of a lobbyist. If you agree consider putting this post scriptum at the bottom at your own reviews.