Director: James Mangold
Main Actors: Russel Crowe, Christian Bale, Ben Foster
Notable Supporting Actors: Logan Lerman, Alan Tudyk, Peter Fonda, Gretchen Mol
First off, I'm a huge fan of westerns to begin with so it's kinda great that I start off with one. I've watched this movie a lot recently because I love it so much. When I first popped in this film I was quite skeptical at first because the last modern western I watched (and didn't finish) was The Proposition (2005) and I was all excited for that one but it turned to a gore fest and the story was seeming to be too weak to have the violence excused. This was not the case with 3:10 to Yuma. Of course it does have its share of violence as most action-type movies to nowadays but not to the point of grossing one out. So with that in mind I will do my little review without trying to spoil too much.
Christian Bale's character, Dan Evans, is the protagonist in this little story and is a veteran from the Civil War who lost his leg presumably during the war. He's a rancher who has become on hard times as the drought has ruined his land and has not left much for his cattle to feed on. His family is quite close to starving and he can barely make payments to keep the land that he is renting from a man named Hollander who likes to burn down his renter's barns when they don't make payments I suppose (I'm not ruining too much it happens at the start of the film).
Russel Crowe portrays an outlaw named Ben Wade who's past is almost as mysterious as why he wears such a tiny hat. Ben Wade leads a gang of fast-drawing, fast-riding that is as multicultural as Toronto and also has a sniper (...like Toronto...). Crowe portrays his character well that has his own internal struggles with what he sees as right in his own eyes and get-rich quick schemes like robbing a stagecoach carrying lots of money around.
Without getting too deep into the film; the other characters that deserve to be noted are the doctor played by Alan Tudyk who provides that character whose outward sense of righteousness juxtaposes the crudeness of the Hollander stooge (played by Kevin Durand) and Peter Fonda's character of the bounty hunter who is Ben Wade's nemesis. Logan Lerman also portrays well the son of Dan Evans who sees his father as weak and strives to be better but as the story goes on learns to respect his father.
The main villain in this story is played by Ben Foster who has a great talent at portraying a villain who is loyal but also quite self-serving and evil.
The film captures the crudeness of the west as Hollywood likes to portray it but it presents it in a very realistic manner. As the story progresses you are at first moved to pity for Dan Evans who can't seem to get on his feet, literally, in life and then respect for him as he keeps trying despite the odds against him. You also learn to like Ben Wade as he tries to befriend Dan despite his ignorance to the odds surrounding him. The characters are all presented well and each is shown to have their own faults which they all have struggled to deal with in their own lives. Each one has some sort of dark or sad past that bubbles to the surface as Dan Evans and the rest try to get Ben Wade to a train to take him to Yuma Prison.
The story feels you with a sense of legacy and reputation. Each character has to fight against the labels that are put on them and the basic theme of the film is that: No matter what life throws at you, you have to stand on your two feet (or one) and withstand the adversity and try to leave a legacy of what is right, in our eyes or God's. I really enjoyed this film and the music was truly moving and keeps one right in the story. I really recommend this film and try to show it to everyone I know ever since I first saw it.
