3:10 to Yuma: Review

Give credit where credit is due and honor James Mangold (Walk the Line), who, in his latest effort 3:10 to Yuma, has revitalized the American Western, as important a cinematic genre as ever has existed. 3:10 is a hard-bitten, potboiler of a film; a masterful frontier story that feels like a Deadwood inflected High Noon. Mangold, who is becoming a wonderful filmmaker, wisely guides the story along, slowly building tension until the breaking point, in which the first hour and 40 minutes of story comes to a nail biting finale that ranks with some of the best Old West celluloid shootouts. Featuring two spectacular performances by Christian Bale and Russell Crowe, 3:10 to Yuma feels like a classic in the making from start to finish.
In this remake of the 1957 original, Bale plays a family man and farmer, Dan Evans, who following the conclusion of the Civil War, packs up his family and heads west. However, the allure and promise of the west quickly becomes hardship and suffering. Faced with enormous debt and a complete lack of water due to a massive, continuing drought, the Evans family begins the film awakened by the burning of their barn. The next day, Evans and his sons, William and Mark (Logan Lerman and Benjamin Petry respectively), ride out to herd their cattle back to the farm. However, their witnessing of a violent and gruesome stagecoach robbery, which quickly degrades into massacre, quickly disturbs that innocent task. The band of outlaws responsible for the attack are led by their fearsome leader, Ben Wade (played by Russell Crowe), and upon realizing that they've been seen, take the Evans' horses but leave them untouched. Dan finds Byron, a survivor of the attack (Peter Fonda), and helps him back into town.

Little does he know that Wade had headed in the same direction and after another chance meeting in a saloon, in which Wade is arrested, Dan finds himself enlisted in a posse whose mission is to deliver Wade to the 3:10 train to Yuma Prison. Unfortunately for Evans, Byron and the rest of the men, Wade's band is close on their tail, now led by the equally dangerous Charlie Prince (Ben Foster). The rest of the film centers along this quest and with each inch traveled, Mangold pushes the audience closer and closer to the edge. The race to the train is a dangerous 24 hours in which many of the members of Wade's escort perish in unfortunate ways. As the group traverses across the unforgiving landscape, which is beautifully shot by Phedon Papamichael (of Sideways fame), the group is physically and mentally punished by the increasing pressure of getting Wade to the station, not only in time but in one piece.

The cast, as a whole, has no real weak points, with everyone more than pulling their weight. The principles, Bale, Crowe, Fonda, Foster and Lerman, are all spectacular, giving their characters complex moral compasses that characterize the great revisionist westerns. Bale and Crowe, in particular, contribute show-stopping performances, something we've come to expect from two of the best actors working today. In Bale's capable hands, Evans possesses not only a physical toughness but a mental and emotional one as well. His continued perseverance really drives the film and serves as the basis for much of the thematic exploration. Crowe's Wade immediately takes his place amongst the pantheon of classic Western villains, a ferocious killer that has the undeniable charisma that reminds one of Wayne's Ethan Edwards. While Crowe's performance isn't quite on the same level as Wayne's (which I consider to be one of the greatest roles in history), it is undeniably powerful and ranks as one of Crowe's better jobs.

It should be noted that this film never truly feels like the classic Peckinpah and Leone examinations of the 1960's and 70's. In other words, the cynicism that was evident in the work of those two masters isn't readily apparent here. Instead, Mangold seems to be concerned with Ford's critiques of masculinity and civilization and while 3:10 to Yuma never attains the full majesty of a Ford epic, it never quite delves into the psychological depravity of Peckinpah. Actually, if pressed and as mentioned earlier, the most notable touchstone here seems to be High Noon, not only in its narrative structure (the continuing march of time) but in its themes as well. Much like Gary Cooper in Zinneman's classic, Evans is forced to deal with a situation that few others want to be involved in.

As this point in the life of the genre, it is almost impossible not to notice the hallmarks of films past. Mangold seems to realize this and continually harkens back (both narratively and thematically) to the great westerns of the past, guiding his film down familiar paths, yet in new and exciting ways. If you have a strong bias against westerns, it is unlikely that 3:10 to Yuma will cure that unfortunate affliction. One might be better off starting with Stagecoach or one of Leone's Dollar Trilogy films to fully get into the genre. However, for those who enjoy a solid western, certainly the best American entry in the genre since 1992's Unforgiven and if not for last year's The Proposition maybe the best since Eastwood's classic period, 3:10 to Yuma is one to check out, a near masterpiece and certainly a worthy remake of the great original.

****