Not A Great Western: 3:10 to Yuma

3:10 to Yuma
Directed by James Mangold
Released September 7, 2007

I should note that I saw this film less than ten minutes after the credits of "The Assassination of Jesse James" rolled. My expectations were for another serious and memorable western. I was disappointed from the first frame. The attitude was just too playful and Russell Crowe's character was simply treating everything far too much like a game. Both Crowe and Christian Bale are great actors but have absolutely nothing to work with here. This is very much like the "Fracture" of westerns, an instantly forgetabble and far too light feature with an underdeveloped plot. Very few of the actors actually fit in with the time period, save for the always-adaptive Bale and Dallas Roberts as a railroad businessman. A lot of praise has been written for Ben Foster, who does do a fine job as a hotheaded and crazy henchman. The reckless disregard for human life is is too much to take, especially given the film's non-serious nature. I was ready to yell at the screen by the time the film reached its preposterous conclusion.

C-