3:10 to Yuma

On the special features of the '3:10 to Yuma' dvd, director James Mangold proclaims that the western has died in the last decade. That may be true. But in the last few years, there seems to have been a neo-renaissance of westerns that have been modern ('The Three Burials Of Malquiades Estrada'), period pieces ('No Country For Old Men'), foreign ('The Proposition'), and classic ('The Assassination of Jesse James...'). '3:10 to Yuma' revisits to 1957 film of the same name, and cannot help but be little more than very typical of the genre: shootouts, stage coach robberies, the making of men, charismatic villians who project the allure of the outlaw, beautiful on-location scenery, posses...it's all here folks.
Bearing all that in mind, the film succeeds in reminding us why we love the genre in the first place. This is mostly due to the actors. Ben Wade couldn't have been more perfectly cast in the form of Russell Crowe. He's tough, suave, knows how to handle a gun, and manages to be endlessly appealing while still being a sociopath. It's been awhile since we've seen Crowe's 'tough guy', and this is one of my favorite performances of his. I was excited to see him up against Christian Bale. It's a pairing that doesn't at all feel obvious, but ends up making perfect sense. Here, Bale is the classic 'reluctant hero': a peasant farmer with a wooden leg, endless debt, a wife, and two sons; one who resents him and another with tuberculosis. Bale's silences speak volumes about his struggle to loath Crowe and his less-than-decent lifestyle. But the show-stealer here may be Ben Foster, who plays Wade's sadistic sidekick with an air of relentless loyalty. He belongs with Crispin Glover and Jeremy Davies in the school of skinny, quivering young actors with unnerving conviction. This is neither the best film of last year nor one of the best westerns we've seen. But the final image of the horse riding alongside the train makes it all feel pretty right on.