The Rocket

Issue date: 9/21/07 Section: Focus

Media Credit: MCT Campus In the Western remake of "3:10 to Yuma," Christian Bale plays Dan Evans. [Click to enlarge]

At one point in time, it is nearly every boy's dream to be a cowboy and roam the endless plains of the lawless West searching for riches, whiskey and women.

While the days of old West outlaws are long gone, films like the 2007 remake "3:10 to Yuma" are always there to saddle a person up for a trot down memory lane.

"Yuma" is a tale about a one-legged rancher, Dan Evans (Christian Bale), who is hired to escort an infamous outlaw, Ben Wade (Russell Crowe), to the train headed for Yuma prison.

Evans, along with a rag-tag crew of other escorts, must overcome angry Native Americans, Wade's homicidal nature and some vengeance-seeking lawmen all while running from Wade's cutthroat crew of thieves.

Throughout the journey, the sadistic Wade is calm and confident, knowing that his posse is near and knowing what it is capable of.

His confidence doesn't stop him from playing some mind games as he interrogates his captors, looking for any information he can use to push their buttons.

Wade's psychological tactics backfire though, as we start to learn more about his past and he starts to relate to Evans. Both men feel as if they have been slighted by life and as if God owes them for the hardships they've endured.

After losing his leg fighting in the Civil War, Evans is forced to watch his family suffer living on a farm that is failing during a long drought.

His son needs the dry Arizona climate to survive a case of tuberculosis. This mission is Evans' way of showing his family, who has all lost respect for him after they've been bullied by the railroad, that he will do anything to help them to survive.

For Wade, life has been a long, lonely trail full of distrust and illegal behavior. Abandoned by his single mother when he was eight years old, Wade survived by becoming a tough, ruthless killer.

Then he started taking what he thought life owed him, knocking over stagecoach after stagecoach.

Wade and Evans are almost the same man, scarred by the hard, Wild West life. The difference is that Evans has a family and Wade never let anyone through his rock-hard shell of mistrust.

There is a fair balance of action and emotion in "Yuma" that gives it its charm. From guns being twirled out of their holsters at breakneck speed to suspenseful horse chases, the movie is full of classic old West action.

The action is supported by a story about two men on the road to redemption. The well-spoken Wade is hard to hate and the lowly, limping Evans is the definition of an underdog.

While the bullets are flying and the dynamite is exploding, it's hard to figure out who to root for. Unfortunately, there is no way for both of them to win.

Bale ("Batman Begins") and Crowe ("Gladiator") complement each other well. Both have played hard-nosed tough guys, and both have also played deeper, emotional roles.

They aren't the only stars that shine in "Yuma," however. The young Ben Foster ("X-Men: The Last Stand") continues to build his résumé with quality roles, while the classic Peter Fonda ("Easy Rider") continues to solidify his legendary status.

Every time the Western genre seems to ride off into the sunset, a film like "3:10 to Yuma" comes along and reunites modern-day men with the cap-gun-shooting boys they used to be. They can say "mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be cowboys," but those babies will want to grow up to be cowboys.

So take a trip back to a Will Smith-less Wild, Wild West and try to catch the "3:10 to Yuma."

Ivan Moore is a senior communication major and a regular contributor to The Rocket.

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