BY: JERRY P

Is the Western making a comeback? Are 3:10 to Yuma and the upcoming Jesse James movie starring Brad Pitt harbingers of a resurgence of the Western? Possibly. I, for one, would love to see it happen.

Westerns are a set-up, as Science Fiction tales often are, for mythological treatment, for truths and insights that are hard to get at any other way. The American West is time out of mind, time that is recognizably American, but a time of legend and rampant individualism, where outsized outlaws do battle with solid citizens with an eye to the settled future and a desire to do the right thing no matter the consequences.

That sort of conflict and confrontation is the premise of “3:10 to Yuma,” the new remake of a 1953 film based on a short story by Elmore Leonard. In the earlier film it was Glenn Ford vs. Van Heflin; in the new version, which expands the story, it is Russell Crowe vs. Christian Bale. Crowe, who is in excellent form in this movie, is the outsized outlaw, the cunning, fear-inspiring thief and murderer, Ben Wade, who is too big and too wily to be captured or hung. He is the leader of a gang of psychotic killers and thieves who seem somehow beneath him; they are a fiendish, bloodthirsty lot next to his moxie, charm, intelligence, and style, although he too can kill at the drop of a hat. His second in command, Charlie Prince (Ben Foster), kills for pleasure and betrays a homoerotic hero worship of a man he always refers to as “Boss.” To an extent Wade feeds off the adoration and sometimes comes close to exhibiting a god-like persona. He is supremely confident at all times and always several steps ahead of everyone else. But he has a weakness: women. There is an attractive woman in the town where the gang stops for a drink and Wade locks in on her from the first moment he sees her; she has no choice but to have sex with him. His charisma is electrifying and irresistible.

On the other side of the fence is Dan Evans (Christian Bale), a refugee from the East Coast, who has come to the Arizona Territory to start over after being wounded in the Civil War. He has lost part of one leg to a wound he experienced from friendly fire during the war. He is trying to make a go of it as a rancher, but he is in debt, his youngest son has Tuberculosis, there is a drought, his barn is burnt down, his herd of cows is scattered and lack water. Things have not gone well for Evans and these troubles have caused a rift in his family. His wife Alice (Gretchen Moll) and his 14-year-old son, William, are losing respect for him. After Ben Wade is captured by the local lawmen because he lingers too long with the gal he met in the bar, a mistake a bit out of character for Wade, Evans decides to join the posse that is going to escort Wade to Contention, Arizona, where he’ll be put on a train to Yuma. He is promised $200 to help out, money he desperately needs to pull himself out of the hole he finds himself in.

The trek to Contention serves two purposes. First of all, it is an obstacle course filled with dangerous incidents that the hero (Evans) and the anti-hero (Wade) must negotiate in order to resolve who lives and who dies. Secondly, it provides an opportunity for the two smartest men in this assembly of vicious thugs and inept lawmen to converse in an ongoing way, getting to know each other, challenging each other, and in general establishing a rather surprising and extraordinary bond. Wade develops a liking for Evans’ integrity, his straight-shooter stance, and his willingness to do what everyone else is running away from. Wade seems to realize his adversary is a man of quality, which in turn makes him reevaluate the scumbags he has been running with for too long. The influence on him by Evans makes for a surprising but satisfying ending to the film.

Crowe’s performance dominates the film; he proves once more it is easier to play the villain than the straight shooter. He commands the screen as only he can. Christian Bale is a foil for almost everyone else, as his character never changes and the others play off his stance and intensity, and Bale adds his particular brand of fierce intensity. He makes Evans burn with a desire to do the right thing. As for the secondary players, I’d say young Ben Foster is a comer as an actor, a special talent. He reminds me of a young Richard Widmark, who made his first impression in Hollywood as a psychotic killer. Charlie Prince drips with venom and is a very scary character. Peter Fonda does a nice job as a hard-as-nails bounty hunter.

The film has a complexity that keeps the story intriguing, and a moral center that keeps a tension going, which all the characters react to, one way or another. And, finally, it has a memorable villain, as Crowe flies high as Ben Wade.

 

 

For Jerry Pfaffl, writing about movies is an act of love and exaltation. Once a week while growing up he and his brother were taken to the neigborhood theater by thier parents to see second-run movies. He remembers sitting in the dark and being utterly mesmerized by noir thrillers, technicolor musicals, Westerns, and Biblical epics. When he was a college student he discovered the wonder of foreign movies and how more daring subject matter was possible. When he was teaching at UNLV he founded CINEMA X, a film society devoted to the showing of contemporary experimental films. When he was working at Bookmans on Ina he was in charge of the Video and DVD department and his nametag read "The Movie Guy." In sum, movies have always been his passion

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