3:10 to Yuma

by Brian Zitzelman

James Mangold’s 3:10 to Yuma stands in stark contrast to another gun heavy film in theatres currently, Michael Davis’s Shoot ‘Em Up. Where Davis uses two prominent actors, Clive Owen and Paul Giamatti, to lift his work, Mangold’s picture features Russell Crowe and Christian Bale to such little effect, the impact would be shocking if it were not predictable.

Mangold is a competent director but has shown to be little else. Since breaking through with 1997’s Copland, the director has made a steady stream of so-so films, typically only saved by impressive performances, with Mangold’s previous work Walk the Line being a prime example. He can tell a story but not a particularly remarkable one.

3:10 to Yuma, a remake of 1957’s Delmer Daves film of the same name, is a western, one of Hollywood’s most beloved yet ignored genres today. Bale is Civil War veteran Dan Evans, a poor rancher with a destroyed leg but a great firing hand. Out with his sons one day, Dan comes across a carriage hold-up, propagated by the infamous Ben Wade (Crowe). Ben is a noble villain, too much so in fact. One can tell that Ben’s meant to be a likeable foil; he draws pictures of birds, recites bible passages and never breaks a promise. He might as well cook a round of eggs and check to see if the mail has arrived yet.

Crowe, who despite minimal work still ranks as one of the finest actors working today, stretches his crook as far as he can. Unfortunately, the screenplay and Mangold give Crowe little room to play. The film’s pace is disjointed, rarely resting in the right moments for its characters to properly ponder their circumstances and seeming all too interested in trying to impress with the shoot outs, here represented by an exploding horse. One key standout happens roughly halfway though Yuma. Bale’s Dan is back home, now accompanied not only by family, but also, to his displeasure, Ben and a crew of men set to take him to prison. Dan’s eldest son William, the impressive young Logan Lerman, sees his father as a coward, a frail and pathetic ghost of a man. In a desperate state for money, Dan agrees to join Ben’s captors on the trip to the titular train stop. Dan’s wife Alice (Gretchen Mol) asks her husband if he must go. Bale, so often known for his intensity, appears a broken man, confident but anxious that this is the shot to reclaim a sufficient living and the love of his son. The scene is the rare time in Yuma where Mangold and company allow the actors to prove their abilities.

The rest of the film is a jumble of good and bad elements. The supporting parts are interestingly cast. Ben Foster seethes with hate as Crowe’s number two guy, carrying an admiration for the boss that echoes with romantic desire. Elsewhere, the never short of fantastic Alan Tudyk gets to be a doctor stuck as a veterinarian, or perhaps the other way around. Oddly, Luke Wilson also shows up, dirty teeth and all, leading a posse. The scene is brief and the casting only makes it a bizarre one.

Mangold does not seek to reinvent the western, a suitable notion. The genre has been nipped and tucked for decades so a straight forward western is welcome. Mangold simply wants to play in the toy box, one in which he brings no new toys. The gun fights happen, but lack any spark, feeling like Peckinpah if he was told to hold back. A far better time can be had seeking out last year’s The Proposition by John Hillcoat, the Australian western with a pulse and vigor sorely lacking in Yuma.