RATING :: a spicy chimichanga with a severely salted MargaritaI love westerns...the scope, the characters, the clear quest for justice, and the gun fights. "3:10 to Yuma", James Mangold's latest film, was a great way to spend an afternoon.
Christian Bale stars as Dan Evans an injured Civil War veteran who has moved his family to the wide open West to start again. He struggles not only against the elements but also with his family...struggling to find respect with his boys as he's about to get kicked off his land as the railroad plows through. Russell Crowe stars as Ben Wade a notoriously vicious outlaw who robs any railroad payroll that comes through with he and his gang slaughtering everyone on board the coach. The two of these characters collide with such impact all other characters simply fall into the afterglow.
There were certain places in the film where I found myself lost in Bale's brilliant character as I pondered on my own fathering and the difficulty that faces many of us face as dads...how can we command respect with our boys? And it is this very issue which drives Evans to join a posse taking Wade to prison. His hope, to regain his land and his stature as a figure worthy of respect.
This film is gritty and dark, certainly not a typical Hollywood film in many ways but well-worth a watch. In the era of remakes that simply retread where the previous movie went, Mangold pays homage to the original through rebirthing the story on his own terms.
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