3:10 to Yuma

Cast:
Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Alan Tudyk, Peter Fonda, Gretchen Mol, Ben Foster & Vinessa Shaw
Director: James Mangold (Walk the Line, Girl Interrupted)

A rancher struggles to support his ranch and family during a long drought. Desperately needing money to build a well, he takes an assignment to transport a notorious felon, in the hands of authorities, to Yuma for imprisonment. But, once the two meet, the criminal tries to tempt him with--in exchange for allowing him to escape--an offer of much more money than the rancher ever expected, the result of a hidden loot.

Action/Adventure, Drama, Western, Crime/Gangster, 1 hr. 57 min, R

ATKBO Review

Dan Evans (Christian Bale) lives with his wife and his two sons on a ranch in the middle of nowhere. His barn is burned down and he is told his house will be next if he doesn’t pay his debt. During the fire some of his cattle leave the area and he sets off to retrieve them.
Meanwhile Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) and his posse are in the middle of robbing a stagecoach/wagon nearby which unknown to them has a bounty hunter aboard (Byron McElroy played by Peter Fonda) who is shot after killing some of Ben’s men.
It is at this time Dan tracks his cattle but also happens to come across the heist where Ben takes Dan’s horses and the money from the robbery leaving Dan and his sons with an injured McElroy at the scene.
Ben and his gang ride into the next town and get Charlie (Ben Foster) to report he witnessed Ben Wade rob and trash the stagecoach to the Marshall who leads a group to investigate. By the time the Marshall reach Dan and McElroy they realised they have been had, however on their way back they find Ben is still in town and arrest him and he is likely to be hung.
Ben needs to be escorted to prison by boarding the 3:10 to Yuma by a party of four headed by McElroy. Dan volunteers due to his money worries but we will find out another reason to him taking on the job.

During Dan and Ben’s journey to the Train Station they will encounter apache Indians, vengeful rail road workers (a surprise cameo), Ben’s posse, numerous escape attempts, double crossings, bribes, confessions and a lot of blood spilt.
Will Ben get to the station! Will they make it on time! All will be revealed in one final deadly showdown with a couple of twists added.

Crowe gives one of his better performances of late, and succeeds in drawing us in with his role as the villain with a soft side. Bale again is upstaged by his peer, but still holds his own taking on yet another class role to add onto his already flawless resume. Ben Foster somewhat lacks the added punch provided by his superiors as the no remorse hothead.
Mangold directs a hip new take on a classic and westerns of old, fast packed and the scenery and cinematography both very alluring.

ATKBO Ratings

• = A Bloody Classic!!!
• = Pretty Bloody Good!
• = Fair
• = Dumb
• = Bloody Awful