Dan Evans (Bale) is an Arizona rancher who's about to lose his farm due to a drought. Injured in the Civil War, he's so thoroughly decent that he can't quite earn the respect of his fed-up wife (Mol) and surly teen son (Lerman). After witnessing a stagecoach robbery by the notorious Ben Wade (Crowe) and his gang, Dan helps the authorities arrest Ben, then offers to escort Ben to the nearest train station to catch the 3:10 train to Yuma Prison. But Ben's vicious henchman (Foster) is on their tail.

There's a level of rough realism here that we rarely see in Westerns, a crackle of danger, not from all the guns, but from the difficulties of life in such a primordial location. These characters struggle against the sky and the earth, recognising that they're all in this together, whichever side of the law they choose. The real villain is the city slicker (Roberts) who represents the bank and owns the sheriff. When money equals power, real justice is impossible. Yes, this is fairly simplistic, but it adds a level of earthy resonance for 21st century audiences.

Bale and Crowe are both terrific, carrying troubled histories in their eyes and building terrific chemistry through sheer intensity. Yes, this is Acting with a capital A, but it's also thoroughly riveting--and mercifully free of scene-chewing. That role falls to the eye-popping, muscle-rippling Foster, who's pretty terrifying as a cruel thug hopped up on pure adrenaline.

This is a great story full of surprising twists, impossible decisions and vivid characters. The moral quagmire is overpowering, throwing us right into the middle to ask what we would do. It's perhaps rather wilfully confrontational, and also strangely simplistic. Even in the jarring turmoil of the final sequence, which intriguingly rewrites the original ending, the film seems to take a vaguely contrived movie-finale turn. But it still challenges us to spot the difference between what's heroic, right, wrong or just plain stupid.

themes, strong violence, language

6.Aug.07