3:10 to Yuma (2007)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

James Mangold

Writers (WGA):

Halsted Welles (screenplay) and
Michael Brandt (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

7 September 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Crime | Drama | Western

Tagline:

Time waits for one man

Plot:

A small-time rancher agrees to hold a captured outlaw who's awaiting a train to go to court in Yuma. A battle of wills ensues as the outlaw tries to psych out the rancher.

Plot Keywords:

Rancher | Outlaw | Train | Stagecoach | Stagecoach Robbery

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 2 wins & 15 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Fri. Nov. 13	8:00 PM	TMC
Wed. Nov. 18	10:00 PM	TMC

Cast

Russell Crowe	...	Ben Wade
Christian Bale	...	Dan Evans
Logan Lerman	...	William Evans
Dallas Roberts	...	Grayson Butterfield
Ben Foster	...	Charlie Prince
Peter Fonda	...	Byron McElroy
Vinessa Shaw	...	Emma Nelson
Alan Tudyk	...	Doc Potter
Luce Rains	...	Marshal Weathers
Gretchen Mol	...	Alice Evans
Lennie Loftin	...	Glen Hollander
Rio Alexander	...	Campos
Johnny Whitworth	...	Darden
Shawn Howell	...	Jackson (as Shawn D. Howell)
Pat Ricotti	...	Jorgensen

Also Known As:

Three Ten to Yuma (USA) (alternative spelling)

MPAA:

Rated R for violence and some language.

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

SDDS | Dolby Digital | DTS

Certification:

Ireland:15A | UK:15 | USA:R (certificate #43654) | Singapore:PG | Taiwan:R-12 | Australia:MA | Finland:K-15 | Norway:15 | Germany:16 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:14A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | Sweden:15 | South Korea:15 | Brazil:14 | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Portugal:M/12 (Qualidade) | Argentina:16 | New Zealand:R13 | Netherlands:12 | South Africa:13V | Peru:14 | Japan:G

Filming Locations:

Bonanza Creek Ranch - 15 Bonanza Creek Lane, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA

Company:

Lionsgate

Trivia:

Russell Crowe, director James Mangold, and producer Cathy Konrad unanimously preferred Christian Bale as the co-lead.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: In some of the shots of Bisbee, power lines (maybe telegraph lines) are visible on the horizon.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Alice Evans: [upon hearing Dan cock his rifle] Dan... Maybe it's the wind.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: (#4.6)" (2009/I)

Seven/Noon

"The boys dressed themselves, hid their accoutrements, and went off grieving that there were no outlaws any more, and wondering what modern civilization could claim to have done to compensate for their loss. They said they would rather be outlaws a year in Sherwood Forest than President of the United States forever." Mark Twain's Adventures of Tom Sawyer

In 3:10 to Yuma, a few references to The Magnificent Seven and the idea of a train arriving at a specific time when good and bad guys converge, as in High Noon, made viewing this Glenn Ford remake from 1957 a pleasant one. And right I was but for even more good reasons.

Not since Unforgiven and The Quick and the Dead have I been as excited about seeing a Western in its heroic and revisionist forms. 3:10 to Yuma is a true Western in the American film tradition about the 19th-century American West: It has clear heroes and villains (and a mixture of those), wide prairies, dirty towns, fast guns, weak lawmen, cunning murderers, kids on the cusp, and women marginalized, just for starters.

Then ratchet up to the philosophical/post modern/post Eastwood reflections on the profession of being a gunman juxtaposed with being a responsible father, and you have an classic angst-filled clash where villain has a wee bit of heart and hero an equal measure of cowardice. Delightfully mix in a certifiable baddie in the Lee Van Cleef/Jack Palance tradition, Ben Foster (Alpha Dog) as Wade's amoral lieutenant Charlie Prince (as in "of darkness"). Best of all, it is nail-bitingly suspenseful and beautifully photographed.

In order to pickup some home-saving cash, poor crippled farmer Dan Evans (Christian Bale) is helping transport murderer Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) to court via the 3:10 to Yuma from Bisbee, Arizona. Getting Wade to the station is no easy task, even for the several deputies, because Wade's evil gang is in hot pursuit and more importantly, Wade is psychologically working on them from within, alternately charming and brutal; just imagine his roguish smile behind an extremely fast gun and unscrupulous conscience.

It's hard to believe a studio could dump such a winner in the dog days of summer. I will say only that if you have even a modicum of respect for this genre, see 3:10 to Yuma and relive the golden days of straight-up shoot-em ups with rough-hewn characters, electric plot, and revisionist attitude about the romance of being an outlaw or a farmer. Get there on time because that movie train goes fast from the get go.