Taking the moral high ground seems to be a thankless job. No one seems to take notice of the good guy who follows the rules and lets his conscience dictate the choices of his life. Some might actually find such a man naive and downright stupid. In 3:10 to Yuma, we see the life of Dan Evans (Christian Bale) whose choices, led by being the dutiful man, has left him with a dying Arizona cattle ranch and a teenage son who look upon him in shame and embarrassment. To make matters worse, Dan is a cripple after having lost his leg in the Civil War, and his wife (Gretchen Mol) indirectly seems to regard her husband as such. The capture of the infamous outlaw Ben Wade (Russell Crowe) provides Dan with the opportunity to earn a little dignity in the eyes of his family, if not some extra money to pay off a bullying land developer who would like nothing more than for Dan's ranch to fail so he can make way for a railroad. Ben is Dan's polar opposite, having no virtues to speak of and a seemingly low threshold for killing his fellow man. The task is to escort Ben to the 3:10 train in a neighboring town that will take him to the prison at Yuma, all the while being chased by Ben's gang led by his right hand man, Charlie Prince (Ben Foster, who played Warren Worthington III/Angel in X-Men 3). The journey provides the backdrop for both Dan and Ben to learn a little more about themselves through each other.
The acting is top notch, although I doubt any of it will be recognized come Oscar time due to the subtleness of it all and a lack of over-the-top dramatic scenes. As I've commented on this blog before, I think Christian Bale is becoming one of the best actors of his generation, and this film is no exception to his growing body of incredible work. He conveys the shame and conflicted feelings of Dan well, and you just want him to succeed knowing he's such a beaten down man. Unfortunately, it's easy to be overshadowed when you're playing the good guy, especially when the charismatic villain is portrayed by Russell Crowe who makes his job look effortless. Is there anyone who can play both sides of the coin better than him? Ben Foster has also been getting quite a bit of praise in the press for his portrayal of the vengeful evil sidekick, and I agree he does strike a pretty scary presence on the screen which seems completely against type for this young up and coming actor.
This being a western, I thought I'd be looking forward to the landscapes of the Old West and the shootouts. But oddly, I found I kept wanting more dialogue time between the Dan and Ben. The final gun fight almost seems to come too quickly, as I felt I wanted to learn more about the two main characters. In fact, if there was any major flaw in this movie, it's that the action isn't all that exciting (although the gun shots are realistically nice and loud). Another minor flaw was a distracting cameo by Luke Wilson in a role that really wasn't that important at all. It's odd that the director would have picked such a recognizable actor for such a small part.
The inclusion of Dan's son William and Charlie Prince also provided a nice contrast to the battle of morals going on with Dan and Ben. William was ashamed of Dan almost to the point of hatred while Charlie seemed to idolize Ben and was determined to free him at any cost. William secretly tags along with the posse on it's way to Yuma not because he cares about his dad's safety, but because he's convinced Dan will be unsuccessful yet again. He's not afraid of facing life on his own because he's felt he's had to already to make up for his father's failures. Charlie, meanwhile, chases after Ben because he's afraid of being alone and can't fathom life without his own "father" leading the group.
In the end, though, this is a tragedy. Even Dan is not immune to what happens when one succumbs to the pressure of one's own pride. His son grows to learn what it is to be a real man, but at a terrible price. Charlie Prince learns his own lesson the hard way. And Ben Wade finally finds his soul. The ending is how it should be, and I walked out of the theater feeling pretty satisfied.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
It ain't easy doing the right thing...
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3 comments:
I was a big fan as well. I saw it yesterday afternoon and walked out feeling some sort of connection with the characters. I loved both the good guy nd the bad guy because you saw the one in the other.
I am not sure I fully agree with you on the view that Ben Wade was a father figure for Charlie Prince. Maybe he was a father figure, but the contrast I felt was more directly related to those character understanding who their father figure was. The contrast comes in when you find that the son does get to see who his father at least wants to be and how Prince never sees who Ben Wade really is.
Yeah, it's like Dan and Ben suppress that quality of themselves they see in the other.
As far as Charlie Prince, I still think he was a man led by fear, in a way. He has the sense of loyalty driving him to free Ben Wade, yet he doesn't really understand where that passion is coming from. Instead of possessing real charisma and leadership skills like Ben, Charlie can only rely on scare tactics and bullying. Subconsciously, he knows he can't lead their crew and desperately needs Ben to rejoin them. Perhaps this is why Charlie wears a white leather coat and Ben is clothed in black, apprentice vs. master, ignorant vs. learned.
I didn't find the Luke Wilson cameo all that distracting.
That's a good point on the father/son comparisons. I didn't consciously notice that during the film. Kudos for the master/student, black/white catch, too.
I tell you, I really liked Peter Fonda's role in the movie, too. I think he was a foil to Dan in that he felt he was a righteous man because of the blessings of his superiors and of society (the same society that had instituted slavery and the attempted genocide of the native Americans.) Dan on the other hand is more honest with himself about what will bring about his redemption.
"Even villains love their mommas."
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