3:10 to Yuma

Saw 3:10 to Yuma last night:




If you haven't seen it, I highly, highly recommend it.

What is it about great Westerns that is so compelling? What makes the stories so gripping? I think it's because the world is so stark and stripped-down - there is no high-tech gadgetry, no frilliness, no frippery, no elaborate social structures or political games. Westerns are all about characters trying to survive, and making choices one after another.

In movieland's Wild West, power is held by the person who is willing to take it from others at any cost - the one to shoot first, without hesitating, is the one who wins. Where does that leave the truly moral man? It's the question almost every Western asks, and the answer is not always the same.

3:10 to Yuma has a perfect mix of Wild-West action and truly layered characterization. Not one psychological moment is lost, and the interaction between the personalities (especially the brilliant leads) is as riveting as the suspense and the violence. Christian Bale's desperate, upright rancher and Russell Crowe's blue-eyed, silver-tongued killer are slowly revealed, scene by scene, as complex personalities - especially Bale's, which is a more subtle character and harder to understand.

Plot is character, and character is plot. Great storytelling.

On a more shallow note, check out Russell Crowe:




The man looks good in a cowboy hat. This movie is a Crowe-lover's (that's me) dream, one of the few roles big enough for his personality. He's got so much charisma in this movie he sort of takes your breath away. And that dark jacket they gave him fit him just perfectly. And those eyes...

OK, ignore my drooling and go back up and read the intellectual stuff.

Better yet, go see the movie.