Nuances of good and bad fill Western remake
My dad’s favorite channel is the last one on the digital cable
line-up before the pay-per-views
– the Western channel. Anytime he is the first home from work or
the first one downstairs on a weekend morning, he flips the station
to the Western channel and leaves it there. It doesn’t matter if a
show or movie is half over – he’s seen them all already anyway – he
will get engrossed in the
show. His list of the all-time best television shows and movies
includes
”
Bonanza,
”
”
Gunsmoke
”
or any movie starring John Wayne.
Nuances of good and bad fill Western remake
My dad’s favorite channel is the last one on the digital cable line-up before the pay-per-views – the Western channel. Anytime he is the first home from work or the first one downstairs on a weekend morning, he flips the station to the Western channel and leaves it there. It doesn’t matter if a show or movie is half over – he’s seen them all already anyway – he will get engrossed in the show. His list of the all-time best television shows and movies includes “Bonanza,” “Gunsmoke” or any movie starring John Wayne.
The rest of us are not such big fans and many a conflict has been avoided by having my dad Tivo the Western station for later viewing at a time when my mom, sister and I aren’t around.
A coworker, who loves Westerns as much as my dad, once said the reason they love them is because there is such a clear cut division between good and bad in the genre. There are no surprise endings in the Wild West.
The recently released remake of the classic “3:10 to Yuma” fits into the genre, but in many ways has more layers than most Westerns, though some of them are not revealed until the very end of the movie. In this Arizona town, no one is purely good or purely bad – there are nuances.
The story is simple. Dan Evans (Christian Bale) is a rancher trying desperately to keep his land after a prolonged drought has put his family into debt. He and his sons, William (Logan Lerman) and Mark (Benjamin Petry) are rounding up their cattle when they happen across a stagecoach robbery. The coach was carrying money for the local railroad system. Ben Wade (Russell Crowe), a notorious outlaw, and his gang have struck for the 22nd time, and this time they used Evans’ cattle to stop the stagecoach.
After the robbery, Wade and his men take Evans’ horses and stop in the nearby town to celebrate. They trick the local law enforcement into riding out of town to search for them while they enjoy a shot of whiskey. When his men ride off, Wade stays to enjoy the company of a woman.
Wade’s delay proves his downfall. As he walks downstairs after his tryst, Evans stops him at the bar. He asks Wade to pay him for the use of his horses and for his lost time rounding up his cattle. Wade pays him and just then the law enforcement officers arrive back into town. They arrest Wade, but now they need to get him on the train to the nearest prison. They have a hodgepodge of men to escort Wade on the two-day journey who all have their own reason for doing it – an injured bounty hunter, a railroad man, a sheriff and a doctor. When they need one more man to get Wade on the 3:10 train to Yuma, Evans offers to go along for $200. That is the amount he needs to pay off his debt.
The rest of the movie focuses on getting Wade to the train station on time and the men encountered expected setbacks. Wade kills off a few of them in attempts to escape and when they realize Wade’s gang is trailing them, they take a short cut. The short cut takes them straight through Apache territory where they are attacked by Indians.
The pace of the movie is slow by blockbuster standards, but it keeps the feel and look of a Western well. The dry, desert landscape makes a great backdrop for the journey of the men to the train station. The movie does have some explosions in it, which seemed out of place for the genre, but I guess technically there could have been explosions with dynamite back then. The movie strays from the original version, which came out in 1957, especially with the ending. In this retelling there are more nuances to the good guys and the bad guys than in typical Westerns. Bale and Crowe make the movie, and the dialogue between them is witty and biting.
Though the movie does not end the way a typical Western would, it does have one thing in common with other Westerns. By the end it is clear what motivates both Evans and Wade so there is no surprise in the climatic last scene of the movie. Bale and Crowe carry the movie to the last scene, and their acting is reason enough to see the movie, even for those who might just be dragged along with a Western fan.
Melissa Flores can be reached at [email protected].
