Dust Devils
At 1am I started watching 3:10 to Yuma. Not a good idea before bedtime; at 3am I was hunched in front of the screen, slightly stiff from not having moved for two hours. And I’m not even a fan of westerns.
3:10 to Yuma is based on an Elmore Leonard story that was previously filmed by Delmer Davies. Christian Bale, one of the current cinema’s leading chameleons, plays Dan Evans, a rancher who’s about to lose his land. He’s a decent man who’s had a run of bad luck, beginning with getting his leg shot off in the Civil War; he’s tormented by the disappointment, reproach, and hunger in the eyes of his wife and two sons. The desperate man signs up for a dangerous task: to deliver the outlaw Ben Wade to the prison train in Yuma for the grand sum of US$200 (Think of the Seven Samurai going to war for a few handfuls of rice). Bad, bad Ben Wade is played by the great Russell Crowe, and when he’s onscreen your eyeballs belong to him. He is utterly charming and utterly nasty.
The posse rides across the wilderness with their lethal cargo, shot at by hostile Apaches, taunted by the Bible-quoting outlaw, and pursued by Wade’s band led by the excellently psychotic Ben Foster. In the course of their ride a bond develops between Evans the loser who wants to do the right thing, and Wade the criminal who revels in his badness. The performances are terrific—Peter Fonda turns up as a Pinkerton—and director James Mangold keeps the action taut and brutal. Hurtling to its violent climax, this western reveals itself as an existential drama about the choices that define a life. You’ve got to see it.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
December 2nd, 2007 at 15:00
I have already seen copies of this western movie 3:10 to Yuma on DVD format being sold along the sidewalks & Muslim stalls in Quiapo. The title seems quite unattractive to the regular pirated DVD buying person just like myself,(I am not even into western-themed stuff) but on closer inspection it stars some great names in Hollywood today namely Russel Crowe & Christian Bale! Throw in veteran actor Peter Fonda, & a favorable, believable mini movie review, wow, this movie is not just some so-so, ho-hum western stuff! Now that gives me one good reason to go back to Quiapo.
December 2nd, 2007 at 20:43
okay, i’ll try to get a copy of the film. Sabi mo maganda eh.
I also recommend “A Mighty Heart” by Michael Winterbottom. Very nice. Companion film ng “Road to Guantanamo.”
December 3rd, 2007 at 02:17
Another western that’s currently available in the stalls and which I just happened to watch right after 3:10 is “The Proposition”. Made just a year earlier, this one is set in Australia and was written by Nick Cave of “The Bad Seeds” fame (I’ve never heard the music but he sure can write a screenplay). Though not as sexy, I find it strangely similar to 3:10 in its depiction of violence and moral themes-I would even say it’s superior. Do try to check it out.
By the way, did you detect any gay undercurrents in 3:10? As one reviewer put it-Ben Foster’s character was sexually ambiguous.
December 4th, 2007 at 00:08
I need to see this. I adore Russell Crowe and Christian Bale, two of the great actors of today. I’m not a fan of western although I’ve been reading lots of good things about this movie. I should definitely check this one out.
December 4th, 2007 at 10:05
A lot of critics were raving about The Proposition, but i did not even bother to finish the film.
Renting it was a mistake, and i was bored out of my skull watching that movie. it didn’t help that i hate westerns too.
January 13th, 2008 at 00:40
Will this film ever EVER get screened locally?