October 1

popcornjunkies.insidepulse.com October 1, 2007

3:10 to Yuma Starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale.
Directed by James Mangold

A few weeks back I was speaking to a friend of mine and was lamenting about the loss of the real big screen tough guy. At the time I was in the midst of watching a bunch of Charles Bronson, Lee Marvin, and Clint Eastwood movies, and I asked my friends where these types of actors were anymore. I'm talking about the guy on screen that's tough not because the movie says he is, but because you know in real life he'd kick your teeth in if you looked at him wrong.

These guys especially belonged in Westerns, bringing the wilderness to its knees while showing outlaws and brigands a thing or two about justice, all the while usually playing an outlaw themselves. I was thinking about that discussion after I watched Russell Crowe in 3:10 to Yuma, and the realization came to me that my argument was suddenly moot. As if he were starring in his 30th Western instead of his second, Russell Crowe makes the genre his own and gives my favorite performance of the year so far.

The film, of course, is a remake of the 1957 movie of the same name, but it pales in comparison to this new version. While I like the previous film a lot, with Glenn Ford pulling in one of his most charismatic turns, the new film employs two of the best actors working today. As much as I love Russell Crowe as the outlaw Ben Wade, Christian Bale is nearly every bit as good in the thankless role of Dan Evans, the small time farmer that has to try and bring Wade to justice in order to be able to collect the reward and feed his family.

What I love about Bale's performance is that he doesn't seem overly noble, like Gary Cooper's Will Kane in High Noon, instead he's as "everyman" as is possible. He gets beat up a lot, and often he backs down when he's confronted by others that would walk all over him, but you know that it's all he has to give. This is what makes his moments of heroism in the film all the more important and impressive, like when he distracts Wade in a bar in order to help the authorities capture him.

Crowe's Wade is the opposite, as he's the most notorious criminal in the territory and the bane of the Union/Pacific railroad. Crowe never plays this role over the top, and he and Director Mangold create a terrific balance in which to make Wade dangerous, but still very likable. He's a principled villain, and one that you don't mind rooting for because Crowe gives him such screen charisma.

The thing is, to some degree the rock star criminal persona that he exudes is an act, hiding real feeling and needs underneath, but he can still back up his deadliness when he needs to. Again, there's a real balance that has to happen with this role in making Wade a bad ass, but never taking him far enough that you really hate him. In fact, the exact opposite is true, as you end up loving him Wade more than anyone else in the film for his magnetism and just how authentic Crowe makes himself look.

I would be remiss if I also neglected to mention the role of Charlie Prince, Ben Wade's henchman, played by Ben Foster. I love characters like this one; henchmen that come in and steal entire movies, like Go-Go Yubari in Kill Bill, Vol. 1 or Darth Maul. Charlie Prince is that sort of character. Dressed in a Confederate jacket and sporting two pistols, he looks like he came straight out of a Spaghetti Western and into the American countryside to reek havoc and that's exactly what he does. This type of henchmen was always big in Samurai films and Bond flicks, but I don't know that I've seen too many in Westerns before. Does anyone else know of any more characters like this? If so, let me know.

Back to the movie, it helps too that Mangold makes this movie an absolute blast to sit through. You see, I think Westerns are usually either really fun, like Silverado, or they're really good, like The Proposition or Unforgiven. Rarely do Westerns manage to be both. You do get the exception here and there, like in the case of Stagecoach, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, or to some degree The Outlaw Josey Wales. I would definitely put 3:10 to Yuma in the same category.

Those that like their Westerns chocked full of Action should get a big kick out of the movie, as we're treated to a riveting opening Wagon chase, the awesome apocalyptic finale, and other big chases sprinkled throughout the movie. Smartly, I think Mangold stretches the films credibility to its limit by making the shootouts and chases as big as possible, but the movie never turns into Hard Boiled either. What Mangold does instead is find the movie's emotional core by building up the movie's climax by mixing action, drama, and music in way that would make Sergio Leone proud. Now I will say that I don't think any film this entire year has gotten me as involved with it more than this film has, and that's what takes it to the top of my list.

3:10 to Yuma manages to remind me about everything I've always loved about the Western. With its tough guy outlaw, proud farmer, big shootouts and very human drama, the movie is great on every level it aspires to be. Managing to be a solidly entertaining and dramatically sound Western is a feat that few in the genre have been able to accomplish and Mangold is able to pull it off here. While the director had actually kind of already done a test on this film by playing with several similar themes in his underrated Copland, here he hit's a complete homerun.