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 Synopsis:
 Christian Bale plays Dan Evans, a down
on his luck rancher. Evans stumbles upon a
posse stagecoach robbery led by Ben Wade
(Crowe). Wade is one of the most wanted
men in America, having robbed over 20
stagecoaches and seriously ticking off the
dreaded Pinkertons of the old west. After
meeting one another, the two part ways.
Soon after, Wade is captured
by authorities and local law enforcement
attempts to recruit an escort team to take Wade
to the town of Contention and put him on the
3:10 train to Yuma. Evans, insisting upon
a steep reward, accepts a position on the escort
team and they begin the journey to Contention.
Wade's band of outlaws, led
by Charlie Prince (played perfectly by Ben
Foster) are intent on a rescue and not making
the escorts' trip an easy one. The cat and
mouse game ensues and follows the two men as
they bond with a respect unlikely among an
outlaw and a rancher.
The Freak's
Rating: C : I
realize that in today's day and age, the western
genre doesn't draw much of a crowd.
Cowboys and gunslingers haven't had a modern
appeal since the early late 60s, when the great
Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid graced the
screen. Nevertheless, the western was a
genre I grew up on. My father was a John
Wayne fan and watching his legendary movie, The
Searchers, is one of my earliest memories.
So I am attracted to the genre a tad more than
most.
Christian Bale is quickly
becoming one of my favorite actors. From
his dark turn as a magician in The Prestige to
his brilliant resurrection of Batman in Batman
Begins, he is one of the most entertaining
people to watch. I'd challenge someone to
find a performance of his that wasn't near
perfect. Russell Crowe started out strong
in my book with Gladiator and has had his own
impressive resume. So the idea of the two
of these A listers coming together to do a
remake of a Glenn Ford western had me intrigued
to say the least.
Ben Foster is a fantastic
actor who may never be recognized as he should
be. Playing Russell in Six Feet Under,
Foster was spot on with a creepiness I'd never
seen before. After renting Alpha Dog,
which I highly recommend for his performance
along with Justin Timberlake's, Foster soared to
the top of my "actors to watch" list.
Foster is fantastic in this, playing Charlie to
a sadistic perfection. Crowe and Bale are
as reliable as always and the pace of the film
is steady. Cinematography and script
adaptation is lacking here though and with a
different twist at the end than the original and
sweeping shots that never quite pull you into
the world, it isn't the best film out there.
However, for a western fan, the flick holds as a
solid genre piece and you'd enjoy it.
Brian's Rating: B :
I agree with everything Angie said. I also am not big on westerns, and
know nothing about the original. I thought the ending of this movie was its
strongest part. I agree with both Angie and Scott on the good acting. My
criticism is on the slow pace of the movie in the middle part.
Angie's Rating: B :
I have never seen the original, so I really can't compare them.
Although, I was anticipating a good movie because Christian Bale and Russel
Crowe were in it. :) I actually thought this movie was a bit better than what
Scott lets on. The end was very good, not a typical story book ending by any
means but fitting. I would say it is one of my favorite westerns, but that
isn't saying much since I really only enjoyed Young Guns and Young Guns II
before this. haha Seriously though, by the scale provided on this site I would
definitely give it a B, maybe a B+ : I might buy it.
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