3:10 to Yuma: Westerns Arrive Late

My favorite line in a western belongs to Clint Eastwood: "Deserve's got nothing to do with it." He says it at the end of Unforgiven. However, up until that point, deserve didn't have anything to do with it. But Eastwood's Mundy was old, given one last moment of youth to kill off those who had been too cruel, and deserve had everything to do with it.

3:10 to Yuma plays off of the morality and deserve of its characters, but a well rounded cast and an updated script makes this more than just another remake. Batman Begins star Christian Bale is Dan Evans, a rancher who is tired of suffering from the dought and refuses to sell his land off to the railroad coming to put an end to his ranch. Gladiator star Russell Crowe is Ben Wade, a man who's made the most off of a lawless land by robbing the banks and carriages. But when Ben Wade is unexpectedly captured by the authorities, Evans, desperate for cash and annoyed by the dissapproving look in his son's eyes, agrees to help transport Wade to the trainstation. To make things more interesting, Wade's old crew is looking for him, lead by his second in command, the double-shooter Charlie Prince (Ben Foster, Angel from X-Men 3), as well as Evans' oldest son follows, either to protect his dad or to admire the infamous Wade.

Bale, an actor who will go to any stretch to fulfill a role, makes no exception for this one. Evans is a character filled with conflict, hard pressed for bravery and worried about the kids back home if he doesn't make it. Selflessness is not his character. Why he agrees to transport Wade is something we're left to wonder for most of the movie, which Wade asks him about again and again.

Crowe's Wade is just as interesting and entertaining. He is efficient if not ruthless, not hesitating to kill his own men when necessary. However, he has a soft side, respecting most women and drawing pictures of what he admires in between bloody moments. At the start, when he seduces a barmaid with his charm, we see part of Eastwood's Bill Mundy in him, a gunslinger who's lost his taste for blood and is starting to feel old. After one attempt to bribe his way to freedom, when asked if he doubts his crew is going to come, he replies, "I just like to do things the easy way." This has a great impact on his transporters, as even a half dozen of Wade's crew chases them, it's Wade they truly fear in his sudden brutality and effectiveness.

The surrounding characters round out the movie. Peter Fonda is Baron, the bounty hunter with his fair share of dark deeds, who if he doesn't have the respect of Wade, they at least have each other's reputations behind them. Alan Turdk (Serenity, Dodgeball) is Doc Potter, the good-hearted doctor to watch over Baron's wounds and wake up at every twig snapping. Baron's own dark past, Doc's heart, Prince's bloodlust, and the greed of all men add a complex background behind Wade and Evans' ongoing conversations of right and wrong.

Is it entertaining? Very much so. From start to finish, the movie doesn't drown itself in action, but delivers well-executed scenes where we have an understanding of the action and find out rarely do you rely on a quick draw and steady hand, but mostly strategy and a clear head. The action is paced out between dialogue scenes between the main characters and the side characters. This is not a divded movie, half action and half dialogue, but a mixture where the action means more because of the reputations, characters, and risk it explains before going into each scene. The final stretch to the train is more than merely a shootout of who lives and who dies, but the most revealing scene for the main characters.

Is it marketable? Hollywood knows the West is not very marketable (The Departed has made cop films the big thing this year), so it is very selective about which ones do come out. Those would be Clint Eastwood's, Tombstone, Kevin Costner's, and now 3:10 to Yuma. Although many critics believe this may bring forth an uncoming revival of the western, I don't belive so. Western's are tired, and we still love those old one's with Eastwood and Tombstone doesn't feel that long ago. It is for everyone, as character-focused films tend to attract most.

Is it memorable? Yes. I say this partially because I believe there won't be a revival of the western. Any lame attempts will only make Yuma look better. Westerns have been tried, and any other movies or remakes would appear already tried from too early ago. Just remember how many pirate films have came out since the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy. But just as I started this review with a quote from Unforgiven and we all remember Tombstone from not too far ago, 3:10 to Yuma will be the bar the next western is compared to. Yes, westerns are the great American genre, but now it's not because of popularity, but their rarity and consistant quality within that rarity.

I approve this movie.