Starring: Russell Crowe (Ben Wade), Christian Bale (Dan Evans), Peter Fonda (Byron McElroy), Gretchen Mol (Alice Evans), Ben Foster (Charlie Prince), Dallas Roberts (Grayson Butterfield), Alan Tudyk (Doc Potter), Vinessa Shaw (Emma Nelson) and Logan Lerman (William Evans).
Directed by: James Mangold
Based on a: Elmore Leonard story
A new western directed by James Mangold has very little offer. But it stands on its two feet because of the works of both Russell Crowe and Christian Bale. Christian Bale plays the good guy who has share of problems after he got injured in the war. To add to his woes his wife and kids are getting bored with his patience. They want him to be a hero again. They are bored of what he has turned into. The other protagonist is Ben Wade played by the revitalized Russell Crowe who begins to cover the scenes with his larger than life persona. He is not your everyday western bad guy. But he has done a lot to be called a mass murderer. There is a lot riding on these two men. Dan has to bring his family to a respectable position for that he needs to find work. Ben Wade needs to gain the trust and the perseverance of his group to get him through this rough patch.
They meet up at a chance encounter Ben Wade take Dan’s horses and loots a carriage filled with money as well. Ben Wade goes into the town but is stopped by his weakness for women. It is here that Dan fools him into getting captured. From here on the film is about reaching a very tough commute. Dan with couple of other men have to take Ben to the 3:10 Yuma while avoiding Ben’s men. These men stand a chance to be heroes so they work tirelessly to reach the goal. But then there is a bloodbath where a lot of them loose their lives. It is just left with both of these men trying to strain each others consciousness to reach a deal. But both of them are really hard men who are not easily shaken by each other. But the moment they reveal their true intentions of embarking on this trip things change for both of them.
The movie as a whole is a very wholesome entertainer with some extremely coherent horse fighting sequences. There is not much of a need for the director to do much work because the actors add a different take on this remake. The movie in the end becomes sort of a cathartic experience. It also breathes a new life into the westerns which were almost a dying cinema. Its been quite a long since we have seen a movie comparable to the great Unforgiven directed by Clint Eastwood. But make sure you don’t miss out on the acting of the two protagonists they outplay each other with an unassuming fluidity.