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3:10 to Yuma (2007)

Director: James Mangold

3

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From Time Out New York

Delmer Daves’s pulpy 1957 cowboy tale was a solid second-tier potboiler, memorable for Glenn Ford psychologically breaking down Van Heflin’s hired escort while they wait for a prison-bound train. James Mangold’s update hews closely to the original—which, ironically, is the most daring thing about this remake. Other than a brief nod to contemporary sociopolitics via a “torture is wrong!” sequence, there’s no sign of the revisionist tendencies that have been a prerequisite for post-’70s horse operas. Now that Westerns fall somewhere on the scarcity scale between honest democratic elections and comet sightings, having the chutzpah to make a straightforward, unself-aware oater feels downright revolutionary.

Whether that’s enough to justify this enterprise, however, is debatable. Mangold certainly knows how to milk macho conflict, turning exchanges between Christian Bale’s law-abiding family man and Russell Crowe’s Proverbs-quoting outlaw into giddy scowlathons, while leaving Ben Foster’s baroque badass sidekick to handle the homoerotic undertones. And the inventive, white-knuckle manner in which the director presents a stagecoach robbery—Peter Fonda blows up a horse!—proves he’s no slouch in choreographing action set pieces, even if he relies too heavily on computer-generated effects later on. (Apparently, just because a movie takes place in the 1800s doesn’t mean the characters can’t run from a CGI fireball.) But though situational complexities are introduced, there’s little here that the original didn’t cover just as well. Which prompts the obvious question: If you’re not adding anything to the mix besides harsher violence, why remake this semipopular title at all?

Author: David Fear 2007-09-04 22:59:34

Time Out New York Issue 623: September 6–12, 2007

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User reviews of this film

  • Ash002 said...
    Posted on May 22 2009 08:16 woof
    Report as inappropriate
  • John O. said...
    Posted on Jan 16 2009 21:21 The reviewer has something there, but the film was not as unimportant as he states. Good action sequences.
    Rating: three out of four. Original: three and a half out of four.
    Report as inappropriate
  • Paul said...
    Posted on Dec 25 2008 15:31 I dont know what went wrong when you watched this movie. Bad day perhaps?
    This is one of the greatest western/action movies Ive seen in many years. The casting is excellent, the action razor sharp.
    Oh and if you watch the special features on the DVD, they dont use CGI like you claim.
    Report as inappropriate
  • Brandon said...
    Posted on Dec 19 2008 16:29 Wow David you completely suck at reviews.
    You just lost your privileges to speak, jackass.
    Report as inappropriate
  • Joshua Kozak said...
    Posted on May 03 2008 19:17 Great story. Great acting. Great script. Great cast. Great movie.
    Report as inappropriate
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3:10 to Yuma

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Cast & crew

Director: James Mangold

Producer: Cathy Konrad

Cast: Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Peter Fonda, Gretchen Mol, Logan Lerman, Ben Foster, Vinessa Shaw, Alan Tudyk, Dallas Roberts full cast

Genre(s): Westerns

Rated: R

Duration: 122 mins

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