As the Crowe Flies

Rating: 7/10 (3 January 2008)

It's so great to see a really whole-hearted Western again, that it's easy to overlook this film's (admittedly subtle) faults.
Its greatest virtue, of course, is Russell Crowe's performance, predictably superior to Glenn Ford's in the original. Crowe is at once likable, evil, amoral and philosophical... perfectly representing that strange mixture that's really the core of this story.
The greatest failing is Christian Bale, who once again emotes most proficiently without ever kindling any real fire. Van Heflin, a fairly wooden actor at best, is far more sympathetic as the rancher desperate to prove himself. As with his previous travesty of Bruce Wayne, Bale seems unable to underplay, to create the sense of suppressed emotion that these roles emphatically require.
Direction in this new version is visually dynamic and highly entertaining. It's only when you compare scene for scene that you realize how much more economical -- and hence powerful -- the original was. Best example: the original sets up Heflin's need to impress his son largely in a single shot. The new version inserts a whole sub-plot without achieving that same emotional tension.
Another key change: the focus of the original is on the long, sweaty wait in the hotel room, during which Glenn Ford tries every trick to undermine Heflin's resolve. The new film abbreviates this brilliant philosophical battle of wills to a single exchange, and substitutes new action scenes that are fun, but far less substantial. (And do nothing to advance our understanding of either Crowe's or Bale's characters.)
All in all, the new 3:10 to Yuma is a very good film, that does better by the source material than most remakes. But the original remains the superior work of art. Still, I'd be happy to watch either one any day of the week.