Welcome back, The Western

Movie Review: 3:10 To Yuma
starring Christian Bale, Russel Crowe, Ben Foster

It's being touted as 'the best Western since Unforgiven.' Since that Eastwood gem was a lifetime ago (1992), it's about darn time we had a good Western. If there's been a decent Western since, it slipped under my radar, so please enlighten me. (i don't really think Brokeback counts) This Fall will see the release of two more Westerns, The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, and No Country For Old Men. Hollywood is a bit cyclical, so after this batch we'll probably see another 15 year period where The Western slumbers whilst superheros or aliens or the like dominate box offices.

But for now, with Yuma at the helm, The Western is back in all it's bad-ass glory. Sloughing off the glitz of Hollywood and managing to simply be a good movie for good movie's sake without parading around screaming 'LOOK! IT'S A BIG COMEBACK! NOTICE MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!' That is a dangerous parade to marshal, my friends, just ask Britney. Ewwwww....i mentioned HER in a discussion about a really cool Western movie! i'm ashamed.

How about i just talk about the darn movie? It's REALLY good. You've got Russell Crowe as the black hat baddie, Ben Wade, who as the movie opens is completing his 22 robbery of a particular railroad company. Crowe has that great deep voice and tough guy solidity without wearing either like it's his best feature/identity/etc (see: The Rock) but rather as tools to complete a task. Ben Wade is the-bad-guy-with-a-soft-or-philosophical-side, which often gets campy and two-dimensional in lesser hero vs villain movies, but Crowe doesn't get distracted by this part of the character, merely enjoys it in its moments and moves on. I'm not usually a big Crowe fan, but i think this movie made me turn a corner in our relationship.

On the other side of the law is 'white hat' Dan Evans, played by Christain Bale, who apparently likes choosing incredibly punishing roles. "Let's see, dashing leading man covered in money and beautiful women? no thanks, i'd rather play the leperous bulemic parapalegic addicted to S&M!" This time he's a civil war amputee turned rancher and family man. Financial woes cause Dan to join a posse taking the captured criminal (Wade) to the 3:10 train to Yuma prison. It's more than the $200 that drives Dan to take the dangerous job though, as he tells his wife he's sick of the way his son looks at him and sick of the way she doesn't. Also, not to be base, but he's a good guy who doesn't like bad guys. This is a Western, after all. Sometimes it really is that simple.

Wade finds himself fascinated by Dan on their journey and Dan's son is boyishly intruiged by Wade, testing the limits of his father's pride. There is a series of 'twists', but i hestitate to call them that, because that connotes definite shifts in loyalties or surprises, and this movie is more subtle and complex than that. At times it gets a bit too 'talk-y' for its genre, but with quality actors like Crowe and Bale you can't really complain when it's a battle of wits and steely stares.

Rounding it all out is Ben Foster as Wade's #1 guy, Charlie. Charlie is a bit maniacal in his loyalty to Wade and at times it's almost like a man-crush (so this IS Brokeback!) but Foster makes you want to watch him, which is saying alot when your costars are Christian Bale and Russell Crowe.

Very fine performances making a solid movie and a commendable return to the genre Robert Duvall recently declared 'uniquely American.' ....except it starred an Aussie and a Brit, but whatever. America's the melting pot, right?

Go see it.