3:10 To Yuma (2007)

[MacGuffin]

Trailer here.

Release Date: October 5th, 2007 (wide)

Starring: Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Alan Tudyk, Peter Fonda, Gretchen Mol 

Directed by: James Mangold (Walk The Line; Copland; Girl, Interrupted)

Premise: A small-time rancher agrees to hold a captured outlaw who's awaiting a train to go to court in Yuma. A battle of wills ensues as the outlaw tries to psych out the rancher.

[Stefen]

This movie was filmed in my backyard in New Mexico. I'd always go out and watch them film.

I didn't work on it though cause I'm so above that.

[modage]

mmm.... western.  i wonder if this will be The Prestige to The Assassination of Jesse James....'s Illusionist?  or will it be the other way around?   

[MacGuffin]

[grand theft sparrow]

i wonder if this will be The Prestige to The Assassination of Jesse James....'s Illusionist?  or will it be the other way around?   

Personally, I hope it's the other way around but I don't want to start that argument up again.

This was a solid good but not great.  Almost great, with many moments of badassedness, but doesn't quite make it.  Though by default, it ends up being one of the better westerns of the last few years.

Bale and Crowe have great chemistry but their characters' motivations are a little hard to swallow.  Mostly, this rests on Crowe's performance.  He was playing his character like a sonofabitch when everyone regards him in the movie as a motherfucker.  He played the hell out of that sonofabitch but the fact that the character is supposed to be a motherfucker caused problems for me towards the end.  But I suspect that it's just because they took a story that worked in the 50s and added contemporary visual flair but kept those 50s sensibilities intact. 

Ultimately, that all doesn't matter too much because it's just out to be a fun time and it succeeds at being that. 

[Pozer]

This was a solid good but not great.

the reason why it is not great is because there are so many "why wouldnt they just do thises" and "why would crowe's character all of sudden be like thats."

cameo spoiler
also, millonaire dickhead/dumbass/can't off himself correctly's brother's cameo bugged me.

[grand theft sparrow]

cameo spoiler

I made myself forget about it.  It's so unnecessary because it's not for comic relief purposes and he's not a good enough actor for it to be anything but a "What the fuck is he doing in this?" moment.  They couldn't find one grizzled-looking bastard who got his SAG card playing a dead homeless guy on Law & Order to play that role?  Really?  The only way it could have been more distracting is if it was his brother.

[MacGuffin]

I can understand sparrow's and pozer's objections, but I would still call this a great film. I really got caught up in the two leads, especially Bale's character; not really cat and mouse of getting to one another, but something better, with more depth. In fact, the entire film is basically made up of scenes or moments we've seen in movies before (and I don't mean from the original), like the father/son relationship or the 'make-that-train' time tension, but they are all made better here. It's a well-crafted film.

[md]

cameo spoiler

I was wondering that too, but stopped caring once he was shot.  Overall, a great movie with fantastic performances by Crowe and the son, Logan Lerman.  For a second, I thought that he was the same actor as the lead in The Girl Next Door.  The showdown at the end was great with the cattle, I just hope there isn't a sequel.