3:10 TO YUMA
Gunslingers, Westward Ho!
The PopcornReel.com Movie Review: "3:10 To Yuma"
By Omar P.L. Moore/September 7, 2007
As the Crowe fires: Russell Crowe at his rascally seductive best as Ben Wade,
the murderous outlaw, and Christian Bale as the American Civil War veteran out
to capture him to win a financial reward, in James Mangold's "3:10 To Yuma",
which is now playing across the U.S. and Canada. (Photos: Richard Foreman/LionsGate)
James Mangold crafts a highly persuasive remake of Delmer Dawes' 1957 western
"3:10 To Yuma", which featured Glenn Ford as Ben Wade and Van Heflin as Dan
Evans. Russell Crowe and Christian Bale respectively inhabit the roles in
Mangold's film, and both predictably thrive. The story, based on Elmore
Leonard's own short story, is still razor-sharp, with particularly good dialogue written by
Halstead Welles and Michael Brandt & Derek Haas.
For those who haven't seen the original film, time is of the essence in "Yuma",
and Wade is an outlaw of the deadliest kind, and he has sprung again from
prison, with the help of his cohorts, which include the vicious Byron McElroy
(Peter Fonda) and the cowardly Charlie Prince (Ben Foster). Down-but-not
out American Civil War veteran Dan Evans is destitute, injured both physically
and financially from the after-effects of the war and barely able to provide for
his family whose matriarchal head is Alice (Gretchen Mol). In a
David-versus-Goliath-type challenge and test of wits, Evans has to get Wade to the Contention,
Arizona train station and on the 3:10 p.m. train heading back to Yuma prison.
Will he do it? Will he pay the price? Will this reviewer give any
clues?
Good suspense and moral dilemmas percolate throughout "Yuma" and Mangold delves
into character study effectively, as Crowe's Wade and Bale's Evans get to know
each other in unexpected ways while psychological power plays are being spun.
The mind-games weave consistently throughout the film, and if the audience has
not seen the original film they will be in for some additional surprises.
The cinematography by Phedon Papamichael is breathtaking, with sweeping shots of
the mountains and the towns of New Mexico, the state which stands in for Arizona
in the story. One of the most admirable things about the new "3:10 To
Yuma" is that it doesn't try to replicate the original film by Dawes, nor does it resort to
visual cliches about what a western is supposed to evoke or look like.
Mangold's "Yuma" is a just-the-facts-ma'am-type of film, a throwback
without being a throwback -- and all the thanks go
to the collaborators, notably Crowe, who exhibits a Robert Mitchum-like swagger
and roguish sex appeal
as Wade, a real-snake charmer that Mitchum would have been proud of, and Mr.
Bale, who as Evans is also sterling. Dallas Roberts also acquits himself
particularly well as a memorable character in Grayson Butterfield, the county
sheriff who has a reputation to uphold. Kudos also go to production
designer Andrew Menzies, who in addition to cultivating the impressive set decor
and the structure of the filmed towns, had to also (with the help of other crew)
"hide" the snow that fell in the Santa Fe area during filming.
Arianne Phillips' costumes are also well-rendered.
Where tone and pacing of Mangold's drama are concerned, there is a languid pace
and a warmth, depth
and sensuality to "Yuma", with conversational exchanges between Wade and several
female characters that evoke both a sexual tension and passion similar to that
seen in films like Martin Scorsese's "The Age Of Innocence". There are
westerns like the forthcoming "The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward
Robert Ford" (opening on September 21) which have to labor longer and harder to
achieve perhaps half of what "3:10 To Yuma" manages to almost effortlessly, and
in less time: tell a coherent story nuanced with characters full of positive,
negative and most impressively, intriguing shades of gray, which James Mangold
and his cast and crew deliver more than just a little effectively, maybe even
effectively enough for Oscar to take notice come January.
"3:10 To Yuma" is rated R by the Motion Picture Association of
America for violence and some language. The film's duration is one hour
and 57 minutes. The film also features Vinessa Shaw (of "Eyes Wide Shut")
as Emmy Nelson, and Logan Lerman as William Evans.
Related story:
"Wild West Western"
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