I have a certain taste when it comes to Westerns. Give me Deadwood over Silverado, for example. I don't want to see Roy Rogers singing to Trigger--I want to see tired cowboys trying to be good men, but still eyeing the whore at the end of the bar, knowing it's a hundred miles of dirt road until the next town. I don't want bullets to simply cause a gash in an arm--I want to see guts blowing out the back, septic infection, and the fear that hits a man when he's been gutshot. That's my Western.
3:10 to Yuma is almost my kind of Western.
At it's heart, 3:10 is about honor--the honor of a man towards his family, and the honor that can exist among men. And yes, that sounds trite, but it's a fundamental component in the narrative structure of most good Westerns.
In the film, Russell Crowe plays a murderous bank robber called Ben Wade--a rock star of his time. Everyone knows of him, most kids want to be him, and he's very comfortable in his role as villain. Because of his own weakness (strength?), he ends up being captured, and has to be transported for trial. Signing on to accompany Wade is Christian Bale's Dan Evans, a Civil War veteran who is watching his family drown beneath debt as his attempts at farming fail and fail again. With a paycheque of $200 coming his way if Wade makes the titular 3:10 train to Yuma, Evans is doing what he feels best for his family. Unfortunately, Wade's gang--a bloodthirsty pack of amoral monsters bound only by their loyalty to Wade--will do anything to rescue him.
The highpoint of this film are easily Crowe and Bale. Crowe is superb as the dark hearted villain with depth (he quotes from Proverbs, and has no use for people who don't read)while Bale shows a determined exhaustion to do what's right. Some of the scenes hint at political statements regarding the present day (in one scene, Wade is tortured with electricity, which is denounced as 'immoral'). But this doesn't overpower the film, leaving the morality tale to unfold as it should.
Yet there's an oddness to the film. First, hardly anyone swears. Secondly, director James Mangold veers away from showing too much gore, even though the film does have some very violent scenes. It felt a bit contrived at times. Even with an R rating, it doesn't feel like it deserves it. As well, I wondered at one character taking a gutshot, having the bullet removed (one of the film's rare gross out scenes), and be up and riding the next day. No, I really don't think so.
The action scenes are well filmed (a rarity these days in the flashcut editing of the Bourne films and anything by Michael Bay), and the sound is very satisfying--the gunshots have a nice solidity to them. The soundtrack is perhaps a little too cliched, but still evokes the necessary loneliness.
Overall, 3:10 to Yuma is a very good film, and should be on the shelves of any well thinking Western film fan. We have to support films like these if we want this genre to continue, and not just settle itself with Silverado II.
Rating: ****
