The train that ran out of steam.

When someone makes a movie out of a book that someone else wrote, you can’t help but wonder why. Is it financial considerations? Is it the chance to work with big stars? Perhaps it is an opportunity to reinterpret a seminal piece of work and thereby attempt to garner a share of the spotlight that would have otherwise not presented itself. We do not have the luxury of ascertaining Mr James Mangold’s (Walk The Line) motives for directing Elmore Leonard’s short story, 3:10 To Yuma, but we must admit he’s done a decent job of it.

Mind you I haven’t read Mr Leonard’s fifteen pager, but having seen the movie, I am certain I will. Not for the plot (obviously), but for the enviable degree of restraint with which Mr Leonard has crafted his characters. Take for instance Dan Evans (Christian Bale) a very bankrupt rancher/ father/ husband. With one son sick, the other one disillusioned (with his father, that is), a wife who admirably hangs on to her marriage for dear life, Dan Evans seems in possession of all the right motives for what the author wants him to do. Which is risk life and limb (his left leg was already damaged in the war) to escort Ben Wade (Russell Crowe), outlaw-at-large, to a train (the 3:10 to Yuma, silly) that will take him to prison. Simple enough, but somehow, I didn’t buy it. The story, not the movie.

I liked the movie: Russell Crowe was convincing as the psychopathic, sharp-as-hell-shooting, barmaid-seducing, camaraderie-and-hero-worship-inspiring Ben Wade; Christian Bale, like aforementioned co-star, shone too, looking like he had everything and nothing to lose (and made adequate amends for his portrayal of Gotham City’s favourite son); Ben Foster was sufficiently bad-ass as Ben Wade’s lieutenant, Charlie Prince; the others, to their credit, kept out of the way by sticking to their roles. What else? The colours. Loved the way in which the colours of the wild west were so noticeably muted, allowing for a gorgeous palette rarely seen in westerns. Loved the music, which undeniably lifted the actors’ performances. Loved the costumes (you could almost smell the dust and horse shit off them). Yup, there was plenty to love.

And yet, there remained that sneaky, Gollum-like feeling that I’d been done in by IMDB and its 8.0 rating. Even though the movie was pretty decent (and not just in parts), I couldn’t help but feel that the story left me blue-balled. I mean every character in 3:10 just lacked a decent motive. Why doesn’t Dan Evans just take his reward of 200 USD and walk off? Why doesn’t he take Ben Wade’s thousand-dollar bribe? Why doesn’t Ben Wade escape when he has the chance? Why does he get caught in the first place?

Too many whys. Unanswered. I just do not buy that there’s-a-hero-inside-everybody crap. I find it hard to accept a story in which everything happens ‘by accident’. A series of incidents that happen because. However, that’s exactly what life is. A series of incidents that happen because. So maybe I should direct my ire (or is it adulation?) towards Mr Leonard instead. For showing us life for what it is, replete with ‘accidental purposes’. That’s life, oh yes sir! And if you don’t like it, that’s just too bad. Sigh.

Overall rating: Definitely not above 6.5
Plot: A grudging 6.0
Acting: Purty dern good!
Watch it again? Errr… aaaah…ummmmaybe…not