Vincent Greene
3:10 to Yuma (2007)
The 2007 remake of the 1957 classic is directed by James Mangold and stars Christian Bale and Russell Crowe in the lead roles. 3:10 to Yuma is an excellent battle of will and is the perfect showcase for the talents of both Bale and Crowe who excel in their respective roles. Crowe clearly revels in being the cold, calculating antagonist Ben Wade. Crowe puts on another pitch-perfect display as the cocksure criminal, he is the lynchpin of the movie in a lot of ways.
The slick, callous villain is the antithesis of Bale’s Dan Evans, the down on his luck, dirt poor rancher who has volunteered to help escort Wade to a nearby town to get him on board the prison train to Yuma. The two men’s characters cut a stark contrast and show clearly the haves and have-nots of this world. That it is often the ones that play by the rules that suffer whilst the ones that flout them are oftentimes rewarded for their transgressions instead of being punished for them.
3:10 to Yuma is a throwback, in many ways, to the gun-toting stagecoach robbing bandits that get hunted down by a posse, but it is really so much more. In actuality, it is a story about redemption, Crowe’s Wade looking to be redeemed a little for his past crimes, and Bale’s Stevens looking for redemption not only in the eyes of his son but also in his own heart. It is a very powerful story about how even though two men sit at the opposite ends of the spectrum from one another that as human beings they have the same wants even if their motives are different.
The director James Mangold has a habit of telling these types of down and dirty stories. He likes to get into the mud and dig up all the things that make us human. He makes these excellently grandiose movies that are really just about people and how complex our relationships are with one another. Once again he does this here and creates a picture of a classic time but with a modern touch, adding layers of grey to a usually black and white world.
Bone Tomahawk (2015)
In 2015, S. Craig Zahler would construct not only one of the best horrors but also one of the best Westerns in recent memory. The movie in question is Bone Tomahawk. The Kurt Russell led piece is a new take on an old trope—the cowboy and Indian story of old shown through a completely different prism. Zahler peels away any sense of the glorification that the old West used to be held up in. Instead, in its place, he builds a very authentic world that is coated with a sense of the horrific on a hitherto unforeseen scale.
Don’t get me wrong here this is not just a down and dirty survival tale. There is much of that but the story doesn’t just focus on that side of things. What Bone Tomahawk is at its core is a story about people and relationships. It is about people’s sense of duty to one another. This is no better exemplified than in the partnership of Russell’s Sheriff Hunt and his loyal backup Deputy Chicory, who is played by the show-stealing Richard Jenkins.
The men’s chemistry is the backbone of the entire piece but the rapport they share isn’t exclusive to each other, as the back and forth with the other two members of their posse is every bit as enthralling. The two in question are Patrick Wilson and Matthew Fox. The two underrated actors once again put in excellent performances in character roles. I can’t stress enough how much the cast lifts Bone Tomahawk to unexpectedly lofty heights.
Even though the cast is astonishingly good, they are also perfectly cast in their roles which is something Zahler has a real knack for. Each cast member fits their characters perfectly but they are also helped by a truly magnificent script. The dialogue is every bit as mesmerizing as the horror is haunting. What Bone Tomahawk does is keeps itself perfectly balanced between the two genres it represents. It walks a tightrope without ever tipping too far one way or the other. It is a haunting hybrid that manages to keep nothing but the qualities from both sections of its theatrical family tree.
Very interesting! I would love to read your take sometime on my own half-dozen favorite Westerns (using that definition somewhat loosely) . . . Billy Jack, Crossfire Trail, The Man Who Shot LIberty Valance, The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao, Stagecoach, and Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here.