The New Old West

I'm not really sure what made me decide to see 3:10 to Yuma, since I'm rather indifferent on Westerns and don't particularly like Russell Crowe. But I'd heard some good things, and I'm glad I listened, because I really did enjoy the movie.

Not that Russell Crowe is actually doing so for my personal benefit, but he does seem to be trying to reverse my opinion of him, one movie at a time. Perhaps I just find him more credible as "the bad guy" rather than the hero he's more often cast as. For whatever the reason, he's pretty effective here.

Christian Bale gives another great performance. As in the more recent Public Enemies, he's a man who takes on the task of bringing a criminal to justice. But in this film, he plays a fully dimensional character with flaws and motives that make for compelling drama. Lots of actors don't know how to play stubborn in a way where you can understand why the character is intractable. (Neither do many writers seem to know how to write it.) Such is not the case here.

There's a strong supporting cast in the film as well. Gretchen Mol, Peter Fonda, Alan Tudyk, and young actor Logan Lerman all add to the mosaic of the story in an effective way. Ben Foster is particularly fantastic as the ruthless killer who's second-in-command of the Crowe character's gang of thugs; you do not want to mess with this guy.

The film is mostly solid, but the pace does lag a bit in a few places. Also, the ending felt a just a little off to me. It seems "correct," and yet I'm not sure I can quite believe the way all the characters behave for the climax, given all we've seen before.

I still would recommend the movie overall, though. I give it a B.