3:10 to Yuma (2007)

3:10 to Yuma. Film review. It's probably one of my earliest notable experience in film that later made me had a certain soft spot for Western. As a child, i was dumbstruck, smitten in awe with Billy the Kid and co. through Young Guns. From there on, it was a gun-trotting, fast-drawing, a sheriff star, and a ten-gallon hat love. But not until years later when i had a chance to broaden my horizon and could virtually pick most films i yearned for, had i stumbled upon the masterpieces in the genre such as those from Sergio Leone and Clint Eastwood and Akira Kurosawa (which was of course, not exactly a Western, but the Western feel of Westernized Samurai with swords rather than guns was easily observed).

2007 saw at least two major release films which could be said revamped the Western genre which has gone hiatus for a quite some time. Both of this film features my favorite actor, none - as far as i know of - showed at our local cinemas, and one of them (this film) had seen an official DVD release. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford which features Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck, and this film, 3:10 to Yuma features Russell Crowe and Christian Bale.

3:10 to Yuma follows a familiar Western in general. There's two prominent characters each with a considerable introduction time. These characters weren't necessarily stood in the opposite side of good and evil, but their roles, who's the protagonist and who's the antagonist were clearly and immediately identifiable. These two characters would crosses path and eventually led to a showdown, a gun-fight to an end.

Unlike most Westerns however, Dan Evans (Christian Bale) the protagonist in this film doesn't possess a notified ability in gun drawing. A complete opposite is Ben Wade (Russell Crowe), the leader of a ruthless bandit with terrifying fast drawing and a frightening smile. Dan is just a rancher on a brim of bankruptcy with debts and a threat to the land he owns and family he loved from a railroad developer who at that time in the West has beginning to expand and opening opportunities across the country. His only concern was his family. Although of course, any casual viewers would have guessed that Dan had some kind of a past he wishes to conceal with being a family man. Ben meanwhile is a character spesifically made up for the purpose of moving pictures. Too unique and too weird to be real. But he's the one who made this film interesting. He led a group of men and had made at least twenty-two armed robberies. He was known and feared. A character you wouldn't want to messed up with. The capture of Ben Wade led Dan who in need for a cash volunteered as one among the group that would escort Ben Wade to a train station where he'll board the 3:10 to Yuma. Meanwhile, Ben's men led by the vicious Charlie Prince (Ben Foster) - whose ever presence amused me almost to a point where i'd crowned him as the scene-stealer though given the competition with Crowe and Bale, it's understandable that his screen absence wasn't missed THAT much just yet - vowed that they would release Ben and made sure the men escorted them had a most terrible death.

In the end, this film doesn't tried to pit the good vs the evil to settled whatever the score was between them in a single location where only one of them left standing. It is more about the nudging between principles among them. Dan with his good natured farmer principle that put his family, wife and son as his pride before anything else, and Ben with his principle on money (actually there's more than money. But to put what his principle was on words wouldn't do any justice and surely would ruin your experience if you hadn't seen the film yet) who was amused with Dan's insistence on doing what anyone else had been refused to do and his refusal upon Ben's bribe to release him. In the end, Dan and Bill understands and silently respected each other in a subtle way that goes beyond words.

For my own taste, it is not yet become the best of the genre but it is more than enough to quench my thirst for a good Western. Russell Crowe was in his usual self. He was a confident man, and he has already proved himself as a versatile actor. Though he is the bad guy in this film, it is almost impossible to not like him. He was simply doing what he does best as a working actor. Christian Bale is well, i had always admired him as a hard-working actor. He was already known to put himself to a strict diet for a role, only to shape up several months later to another role that required tremendeous physical strength, and then, eating a plate full of live worms and maggots in a yet another role. However, there's this facial attribute on him that almost gave him away every time, no matter how his outer appearance looked like. Not to a point where it's annoying (as for example, these ladies had a facial attribute that annoys me every time i look at them) but yeah, for me, it's a Bale's grin. And i should liked him even more had he doesn't have such uniqueness. However, his role was the key to this film. Everything revolves around Dan, and Dan is one character that doesn't change in this film from start to finish. And Bale's grin or no Bale's grin, he did a very good job delivering Dan Evans. All in all, even though the action part in this film wasn't really that much (however, it must be noted that the last thirty minutes of the film is awesomely breath-taking), this film is a joy ride wether you liked Western or not. Though it certainly helps a lot had you liked Western.