The Rebirth of Westerns?

I saw 3:10 to Yuma on Sunday and was very impressed. I expected a half-assed spaghetti western with a re-re-recycled plot, but what I got was a solid (though somewhat floundering) attempt at a serious western film.

The film stars Christian Bale and Russel Crowe as a poor rancher and a murderous outlaw, respectively. Bale swears to take Crowe to meet teh 3:10 train to Yuma prison for the $200 dollar reward. He needs the money so that he can continue to feed his family and pay off a large debt to a ruthless business man.

Throughout the film we see the shifting paradigms of the cliched outlaw and lawman. We see that the holier-than-thou bounty hunter was not as good as he pretended to be and that despite his streak of violent crimes, Crowe has a sense of honor and dignity

The film was a bit slow, but the culmination of the plot, waiting for the train was exciting and made up for the drag towards the middle of the story. Understandably, the plot was predictable. It is hard to make a western that ISN'T cliche, but 3:10 tried its best to break the mold without straying to far from the western roots. It seemed to find a balance between originality and Westernness....

Check it out if you get the chance. It was a solid B+ in my book.

Until next time, Live long and prosper _\\//,
~Mike