3:10 to Yuma (2007)
3:10 to Yuma is a remake of a 1957 western of the same title. I have not seen the unoriginal, hence am unable to make a comparison.
The film boosts a top tier male cast: Christian Bale and Russel Crowe are the two leads, and Peter Fonda and Ben Foster play significant supporting roles. Bale and Crowe nail their roles, as can be expected from these two great actors, and the film succeeds largely because of their screen intensity.
Bale plays Dan Evans, a Civil War veteran who has lost a leg and is struggling to make ends meet for his family out on the frontier. His land is preyed on by the railroad company. Thus he volunteers when the daring outlaw Ben Wade (Crowe) has been captured – helping transport Wade on to the 3:10 prisoner train to Yuma will gain Evans a big sum of money. Also in the group is McElroy (Peter Fonda), a seasoned bounty hunter who has more than a few scores to settle with Wade.
Their chances are slim – Wade’s crew, lead by the maniacal Charlie Prince (Ben Foster) are out there and willing to set their boss free at any cost. Besides, the group guarding Wade is hardly any match for this criminal – he leisurely kills people in the group that have annoyed him, and the only reason that he hasn’t escaped seems to be that he actually enjoys their company – especially Evans. The two form a reluctant and unexpected friendship – they are complete opposites, yet in some ways they both admire each other, and sees each other as people of equal caliber.
The story rests heavily on the relationship of the two men, and the sheer star power of the two leads make it work. Yet the film also suffers heavily from several plot and execution flaws – namely, I found the plot hard to believe, and the lack of plausibility severely hindered the overall experience. Wade seemed far more capable than his captors, and he could have escaped or just killed them fairly early on, long before he and Evans bonded. And the final act at the train station lacked tension, and was almost comical – how could the one-legged Evans survive the barrage of bullets from a whole town of trigger-happy men? And how could the sharp-shooting Apache from Wade’s gang, who could take out moving targets at long distance, miss Evans? These issues made the film problematic, and is a letdown.
6/10