3:10 To Yuma

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Poor, one-legged rancher, Dan Evans (Bale), must accompany dangerous criminal Ben Wade (Crowe) to the 3:10 train to Yuma with a cluster of inept bounty hunters, after discovering Wade robbing a carriage on his land with his gang of violent colleagues. Naturally, a dangerous journey beset with psychological mind games ensues. Originally green-lit with Tom Cruise in the Bale role, 3:10 to Yuma is a sporadically entertaining, if deeply flawed, adaptation of the Elmore Leonard short story that was previously adapted to solid, if unspectacular, effect in the 1950s. When it does work, it's mostly on account of the performances of the two leads. They both manage to muster appropriate amounts of depth in difficult roles, with Bale expressing an intense air of desperation with ease, while Crowe bounces off his co-star as he treads the blurred line of good/bad guy with a rugged charisma we have now come to expect from the Oscar winner. Most of the problems lie in the sometimes languorous plotting and shabby script that caps off a ludicrous final twenty minutes, by having characters make inexplicable decisions that completely undermine the laboured build-up. While it may seem harsh to call a Western out for cliches - the heavy handed metaphors (one leg = half a man) and angry older son character who wishes his Daddy was more manly - they have been done countless times before to better effect. That said, it does have its moments. Ben Foster is on typically over-the-top form as the second-in-command of Crowe's posse, offering another nicely played psycho to his fledgling bad guy career. The shoot outs are proficiently staged by Copland/Walk the Line director Mangold, if a little over-cut - lacking a point of impact to give a feel of real grit. Ultimately, 3:10 to Yuma would've been a better film if we had some expanded context to the latter actions of Wade and Evans - filling in some annoying plot holes in the process.