3:10 To Yuma, 3.5 stars
As the first western movie in fifteen years, watched 3:10 To Yuma. At least I figure I haven’t paid to see any since Clint Eastwood’s almighty Unforgiven. With two more westerns featured in the trailers (the improbably named Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and the newest Daniel Day-Lewis vehicle, There will be Blood).
The story hits all the right spots, even bordering on the over-crowded on the count of plot devices. All the bases are covered, from evil businessmen to totemic guns via rebellious offspring.
The scenery is nothing short of great either, the screen is filled with both boldly red canyonlands as well as blue-tinted nocturnal images of the same.
The film has been advertised with the interplay between the two leads. And Christian Bale and Russell Crowe, as the downtrodden rancher and unaplogetic outlaw, respectively, do excel in their roles. And the supporting cast is not a bunch of slouches either. Ben Foster casts a nicely psychotic second in command of Russell Crowe’s gang.
Apart from the Black Hawk Down-esque ending, the movie is indeed a genuinely good western of the old school, and gets a definite recommendation to veteran fans of the genre and laypeople alike.
This time there’s no floppy ears to account for the stars, but the quality of the supporting actors like Peter Fonda, Luke Wilson (in an oddly cruel role) and Alan Tudyk are worth an extra nod.
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