3:10 to Yuma (2007) - An Amazing Western

by TE
(NC)

3:10 To Yuma (2007) directed by James Mangold is easily one of the best Western movies in the modern era. Sadly, it was not nominated for Oscars for acting or writing. It did earn a sound nomination and thankfully for soundtrack from Marco Beltrami, the orchestrator of many horror - thriller oriented films.


Christian Bale plays a rancher who is forced through his debts and his own flagging self-respect to take an outlaw played by Russell Crowe to the train leaving at "3:10 to Yuma."


It would take too much detail to fully appreciate what happens in the film but Bales takes the cowardly character to his inevitable fate and Crowe makes a very bad man into an enjoyable, though not sympathetic character. Ben Foster plays Charlie Prince a member of Crowe’s gang, seems to be trapped in playing psychotics. After his turn in Hostage which is essentially a modern day Western, it was not surprising to see his turn in this film. He plays Crowe's right hand man who refuses to let his evil boss get toted away to jail.


What complicates Bale's character's actions is the behavior of his son, who ends up tagging along to return the evil Crowe character to the train station. The young actor does a terrific job at showing his disdain for what he perceives within his father and the seductive life led by the evil Crowe character.


This film is very surprising considering it came from James Mangold, the director of Copland, also another modern Western, the thriller Identity and the bio-pic Walk the Line. He has built an eclectic but enjoyable career of working with terrific actors. His set pieces in this film were terrific and the cinematography was great.


I wish I had read the original Elmore Leonard that both the 1957 movie and this movie were based on. It definitely has the feel of the noir-ish writer.


I never saw the original film either and wished that I had to compare it. Many people suggested that the original is superior or as good as this newer iteration, but based on what I have seen and understand about the original, it probably does not fail to bring modern production to the original and probably little changed original.
From what I do understand, I would suspect the newer version has a more Western version of the tale if I understand it correctly. A less happy ending accompanies this version. This leads to my desire to read the original short story and see which movie got it right or better.


My wife and I saw this together and she was enthralled with every aspect of the film. She very much loved the soundtrack like I did. The cinematography matches virtually anything out there in terms of showing stark Western landscapes. She was taken with the relationship that develops between the coward and the bad man. Both end up doing what they needed to do. And while the ending might leave something to be desired for some folks, it was a satisfying conclusion for a film where I kept wondering how they could possibly end it.


The violence and themes presented are very extreme to amuse your cowboy taste. Although in my western movie review, I would definitely not recommend this for any children under the age of 16, but surely this modern western is an enjoyable experience for adults.