Movie Review: 3:10 to Yuma (2007)

Runtime: 122min 16secs
Tagline: Time Waits for One Man
Directed by: James Mangold
Written by Halsted Welles and Michael Brandt

Plot Outline:
The legendary outlaw, Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) and his gang have just robbed an armed stage coach carrying the Southern Pacific Railroads payroll. They kill everyone onboard except Pinkerton guard whom Wade shoots in the belly. A poor rancher Dan Evans (Christian Bale) and his two sons find the guard and take him down town to find him a doctor.

Ben Wade too is in town, alone and with the aid of Dan the sheriff immediately surrounds the hotel and Ben Wade is captured. The railroad representative asks for paid volunteers to join the posse to take Wade to the train station in the town of Contention three days away. The train is due at 3:10, and they must put Wade on the train’s prison car bound for Yuma. Once Wade arrives in Yuma, he will receive a quick trial in Federal Court and be hanged.

Dan desperately needing money to save his farm, agrees to help transport Wade to Contention provided he is be paid $200.

Overall Impressions:
So, the spree did come to an end. This film was alright but no ‘must see’ like the previous two films I watched. (I did manage to get 3 in a row though as I did catch Shoot ‘em Up again too). I find it quite surprising that this one is rated so highly on imdb though. Don’t get me wrong it’s decent enough, just a tad predictable and quite slow.

Overall, did I enjoy it? I guess so. People getting shot always gets some credit. Christian Bale was superb as always. Russell Crowe on the other hand has quite an ambiguous character. He’s supposed to be the big hero who is evil but isn’t ’so’ evil. This is where it goes a bit grey and blurry for me. All said and done I did find it quite moving, particularly the end. Though predictable it does tug at some of those emotional muscles amd tissues, that and the leadup to it being it’s largest selling point.

In light of the other releases this week, I’m going to say you can give it a miss & catch it later.

Reviewed by Ramchandra