3:10 to Yuma
A heart-felt emotional journey.
Review by Sirus

“3:10 to Yuma” is a remake of a movie by the same name that was originally released in 1957. Unlike other remakes that have shown up on the market lately, there is a good chance that most moviegoers haven’t seen the original. The movie tells the story of a small town rancher named Dan Evans (Christian Bale) who is struggling to make ends meet and keep his land. While out rounding up his cattle one day he witnesses a famous outlaw Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) and his gang holding up a carriage transporting money for one of the large banks. By chance, Ben Wade gets caught by the marshal in the nearest town and Dan Evans gets hired to guard Wade’s transfer to board the 3:10 train to Yuma Prison. Along the way we learn about Dan’s past and his motivations for taking the job through what turns out to be quite the emotional journey.

Both Christian Bale and Russell Crowe have been on the top of my list of favorite actors for years now. They do a fantastic job in their roles expressing a wide range of emotions. Russell Crowe manages to make his character somewhat charming despite his role and status. The music in the movie is a fitting collection of pieces that the average person would associate with a western movie. The movie moves along at a deliberate pace so that it never gets boring and the action sequences aren’t too drawn out. It has been a while since a good western movie has been released and “3:10 to Yuma” does a great job scratching the audience’s itch for such even if it is a remake. “3:10 to Yuma” is a heart-felt emotional journey through the life of a man who is doing everything in his power to provide for his family and improve their image of him. At the same time the bond formed between Dan Evans and Ben Wade throughout the movie is genuine and powerful. It’s movies like this that make the audience feel like they understand one of life’s big truths a little more and leave the theater satisfied that they got a little something extra from their money than just some 2 hour escape from reality.

Final Score: 4.5/5