‘3:10 to Yuma’

Three Stars out of Five

After many manipulations and a somewhat revolving door of possible lead actors, the remake of the 1957 Western classic “3:10 to Yuma,” hit theaters on Sept. 7. While not the genre-defining piece that was the original, this remake starring Russell Crowe and Christian Bale should draw a respectable audience.

Russell Crowe stars as Ben Wade, an outlaw who leads a ruthless gang responsible for 20 known robberies of the Southern Pacific Railroad in Arizona during the rail expansions of the late 19th century. An opening scene not only shows Wade killing the SPR men guarding a money shipment, but his own man for being “stupid.” Oddly charismatic, Wade is that special kind of criminal who can kill and act like he is truly enjoying himself.

Christian Bale stars as Dan Evans, a down-on-his-luck rancher with a wife and two sons who are on the verge of losing their land to the railroad. Evans is a Civil War veteran who receives no respect from those in town and is quickly losing it from his own family as well.

If this were not a remake of a classic film of the genre, 2007’s “3:10 to Yuma” would be a decent Western, but any film connoisseur will note the many instances where this film simply does not measure up to the original.

First, the character of Ben Wade was one of the few times when Glenn Ford played a criminal and he played this one with real fire. Watching the 1957 version, one notes from the very beginning that he’s a criminal who’s questioning his very existence and is genuinely tired of being such filth. It was a defining role in a stellar career.

Crowe delivers the best performance in the piece, but gives his Wade none of the psychological questioning that Ford did. He spends most of the film being devious and clever so that when the culminating scenes unfold many of his actions make no real sense in relation to the events.

Adding to this is the fact that the 2007 version shows all the violence leaving nothing to the imagination. The original left most of the gore for the audience to imagine making it far superior as a psychological thriller as much as it was a Western. Many film scholars have stated that it was written and acted so well that it could have depicted any time and been effective.

Second, the character of Dan Evans was in many people’s opinion the best performance of Van Heflin’s exceptional career. He was able to portray Evans as a true everyman. Christian Bale’s performance is nowhere near that of Heflin’s. Where Heflin was able to inject his character with humanity as he wrestled with his inner demons throughout the film, Bale stumbles and bumbles along giving his character very little real human emotion or thought.

When compared to the original, this 2007 remake only makes the 1957 version seem even better. However, there’s still a lot to like about this film. The supporting cast that includes Peter Fonda, Ben Foster, Dallas Roberts, GretchMol and a cameo by Luke Wilson is excellent. The cinematography, filmed entirely in New Mexico is truly beautiful and extremely varied. Those who enjoy this remake are strongly encouraged to check out the original.

—

John Malgesini is a teacher at Umatilla High School.