Ideal cast, taut direction make '3:10' a lean, muscular western
The American western has experienced more comebacks than Madonna, and James Mangold's return-to-basics horse opera "3:10 to Yuma" proves that it deserves to stay around for a while.
Mangold's lean and muscular remake of a 1957 western (based on an Elmore Leonard short story, no less) combines the visceral impact of Sam Peckinpah with the moral ambiguity of Zane Grey. "3:10 to Yuma" might not be a perfect western, but it'll do until one comes around.
The most interesting character in the story is, by no surprise, the outlaw, Ben Wade, played pitch perfect by Russell Crowe as a genteel man of the West who can quote scripture when needed, and savagely rip a man's throat when wanted.
The hero of the tale is a poor sod buster named Dan Evans, played by Christian Bale with the gaunt, haunted face of a fearful man on the verge of losing everything. A Civil War vet who lost a leg in combat, Dan struggles to pay the debts on his homestead.
Dan has a pretty wife named Alice (Gretchen Mol) who doesn't want him much. He has a son named Will (Logan Lerman) who doesn't respect him much. Dan gets the chance to make $200 by escorting captured criminal Ben Wade to the 3:10 train over in Contention, then on to a necktie party in Yuma. Dan goes for the cash -- and for some manly redemption.
Off go the good guys, a few lawmen led by Marshal Byron McElroy (Peter Fonda, channeling the vocal essence of the Duke himself). On their tails, Wade's psychotic right-hand man Charlie Prince (played with evil effusiveness by a luminous Ben Foster) vows to kill every person who helps McElroy in his suicide quest to Contention.
When he's not staring down opponents with his beady, ratlike eyes, sick-shooter Prince mutters bad-guy gems such as "This town's gonna burn!"
"3:10" offers up more than a plethora of quips, blood and gunplay. Wade, a cool snake, wages a psychological war on farmer Dan, pressing his buttons and slowly breaking down his rigid morality. Things get very complicated when young Will Evans unexpectedly arrives to help Dad, against his orders.
Most classic westerns tend to be a lot of foreplay before the obligatory showdown, and "3:10" doesn't disappoint. Prince and his band of outlaws take on the rapidly diminishing lawmen in a showy broadside of gunfire and action movie clichés, especially when lame Dan goes running through a tiny wooden town with Wade in reluctant tow, blasting opponents with accurate ease while magically dodging bullets from some of the worst shots in the West.
The ending of "3:10" gets murky in the motivation department. Crowe's pensive killer paired with Bale's desperate good guy makes an alluring contrast in Mangold's resurrection of the classic American western. It's a welcome addition to the fall schedule.
And naming one of the deputies Sam Fuller -- after the famous action director -- is a nice touch, too.
"3:10 to Yuma"
2 1/2 stars
out of four
Opens today
Starring As
Russell Crowe Ben Wade
Christian Bale Dan Evans
Gretchen Mol Alice Evans
Ben Foster Charlie Prince
Peter Fonda Byron McElroy
Written by Halsted Welles, Michael Brandt and Derek Haas; based on the short story by Elmore Leonard. Produced by Cathy Conrad. Directed by James Mangold. A Lions Gate Films release. Rated R (violence, language). Running time: 117 minutes.