Movie Review 3:10 to Yuma

3:10 to Yuma (2007)

Directed by James Mangold 

Written by Halstedt Welles, Michael Brandt, Derek Haas

Starring Christian Bale, Russell Crowe, Ben Foster, Gretchen Mol 

Release Date September 7th, 2007

Published Septembeer 6th, 2007 

Director James Mangold made a splashy directorial debut with the gritty crime drama Copland. Though most remembered for star Sylvester Stallone's weight gain for the lead role, Copland was in fact quite good. His next feature earned him even more acclaim. Girl Interrupted was nominated for multiple Oscars and won one for Angelina Jolie's tremendous supporting turn.

Then Mangold drifted toward the mainstream with a pair of forgettable studio efforts, the dull time travel romance Kate & Leopold and an oddball thriller called Identity. Both were pro level efforts but they lacked heart. Then in 2005 Mangold found himself again and delivered Walk The Line. The biography of Johnny Cash was everything one could ask for in a bio of the legendary man in black.

As great as Walk The Line was however, with 3:10 To Yuma James Mangold has crafted his first masterpiece. This moody, manly western, based on an Elmore Leonard short story, stars Russell Crowe as Ben Wade a badass outlaw whose gang is a group of mad dog killers who will follow him straight to hell if need be.

The plot of 3:10 To Yuma is as stripped down and straight forward as any classic western. One brave man must escort a murderer to the 3:10 train to Yuma prison. There the killer will be hanged for his many crimes. Complicating manners is the bad guys gang of badass killers who will ride through hell or high water to rescue their boss.

It's not the plot that matters, but rather the motivations, the actions and interplay between the exceptional characters. Russell Crowe inhabits the evil Ben Wade with snaky charm and a sharp tongue. Though admittedly a killer and an obvious menace, Crowe's Ben Wade has the kind of charm that few women could resist and few men can compete with.

Compared to Crowe's Wade, Christian Bale's stalwart good guy Dan Evans is a bit of a wet blanket, initially. Part of the story of 3:10 To Yuma is Bale's Evans earning the respect of Ben Wade and those of us in the audience harboring a secret affection for Wade's charms. This battle between good and evil, shaded with the gray of desperation, fear and greed, is played out with blood, guts and bullets but more than anything, great old school filmmaking.

James Mangold's direction of 3:10 To Yuma is nearly flawless. From his dusty western landscapes to the brilliant interplay between Russell Crowe and Christian Bale, Mangold manages a classic western that never feels stale. Though this is a remake, there is no retread vibe here. 3:10 To Yuma modernizes the western aesthetic without gimmicks like modern scoring or quick cuts but rather with the awesome star turns of Bale and Crowe.

In the supporting cast I especially loved the inclusion of Peter Fonda as an old west lawman. Fonda has not been this good in awhile and his inclusion is yet another nod to the old school western, his dad Henry made a few pretty good westerns back in the day. The supporting performance that nearly steals the film however, belongs to young Ben Foster whose intensity almost exceeds Crowe and Christian Bale, two of our more ferocious leading men period.

As he showed in Alpha Dog and 2005's Hostage, Foster can play live wire with the best of them. In 3:10 To Yuma it's more of a controlled burn than a live wire but it's as fierce as those performances with a touch more maturity. Foster is developing into an excellent go to character actor and may have found a real niche with this performance.

My favorite scene in 3:10 To Yuma is one of the more quiet moments in the whole movie. Dan Evans and a small posse are hiding Ben Wade, preparing for the trip to Yuma, at Dan's farm. Wade joins the family for dinner and when Evans leaves the table to check in with the posse guarding the doors, Wade begins a conversation with Evans' wife played by Gretchen Mol, in her dowdiest school marm frocks. Mrs. Evans is fearful of Wade but its not long before you wonder if she'd be willing to run off with him if given the chance.

Crowe gets much of the attention in this scene but Ms. Mol's subtle changes in expression, her flushing cheeks and darting eyes are near perfect. The scene is perfectly captured by Mangold with tight close ups and framing that seem to draw the two actors into the same frame without them moving an inch. Though I noticed these subtle movements, I was watching for them, most audiences will experience them seamlessly and, I think, be as mesmerized by them as I was.

There are a number of similarly strong scenes in 3:10 To Yuma including much of the third act which takes place in a single hotel room as Evans waits to take Wade to the train even as the place is surrounded by Wade's gang. The original 3:10 To Yuma spent most of its runtime trapped in one hotel room under similar circumstances, these scenes in the new 3:10 To Yuma are as much a nice throwback nod to the older film as they are a necessary piece of plotting.

3:10 To Yuma is a masterpiece of style and substance. While some may fault the films logic of manhood and respect above all else, I dug the old school western values. I especially bought into the idea that Crowe and Bale's characters would hold these ideals above all else and be willing to give their lives for them.

When awards season rolls around in late December and early January expect to see 3:10 To Yuma on a number of lists. Especially keep an eye out for Russell Crowe who delivers a performance here that is arguably the best of his career.

You must see this movie!

Movie Review Ghost Rider

Ghost Rider (2007) 

Directed by Mark Steven Johnson 

Written by Mark Steven Johnson 

Starring Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes, Wes Bentley, Sam Elliott, Peter Fonda 

Release Date February 16th, 2007

Published February 15th, 2007

Hiring Nicolas Cage to play Ghost Rider is strange for a few different reasons. The oddest thing about the choice of Nicolas Cage for this role is that he is simply too big a star for this. Any film producer would tell you that you don't hire a well known star like Nicolas Cage and then cover his face with computer generated effects. 

Ghost Rider requires that the star, in some of the movie's biggest and most important scenes, will be covered by CGI bones and flames. This is natural for a lesser known actor, not for one as well known as Nic Cage. Nevertheless, Cage campaigned for the role and got it and now Ghost Rider is out there and though Cage is missing from some of the film's biggest moments, I can't imagine the movie being as fun or entertaining without him.

When Johnny Blaze (Matt Long) was a kid riding motorcycles in carnivals with his dad, Barton (Brett Cullen), he made a deal with the devil (Peter Fonda). Johnny's father was sick and dying so Johnny made a deal that he thought would save his dad's life. In exchange rescuing Dad, the devil told Johnny that some time in the future he would return to collect on Johnny's debt.

Nearly 30 years later, Johnny (Nicolas Cage) is a world famous motorcycle stunt rider. His jumps over lines of cars, trucks, even helicopters are pay per view sensations. The life he gave up after selling his soul seems to be coming back into focus as  his childhood sweetheart Roxy (Eva Mendes), who he had once planned to run away with, comes back into his life.

The sparks ignite once again between Johnny and Roxy but unfortunately it is then that the devil returns to collect his debt. Seems the devil's own son, Blackheart (Wes Bentley), has escaped from hell and is planning on taking over the world. It will be Johnny's job as the devil's new bounty hunter to bring down Blackheart before he can get his hands on a legendary contract full of souls that could destroy the world. Thus, Johnny becomes the Ghost Rider, a flame skulled super-hero who does the devil's dirty work. Riding a flaming motorcycle and carrying a flaming chain, Ghost Rider battles evil and collects their souls for Satan.

Directed by Mark Steven Johnson, the man behind Marvel's Daredevil movie, Ghost Rider is a big time action spectacle with outsized special effects and a good deal of goofiness. Johnson knows this material well, he is clearly a fan of the comics, and his love for the material really shines through. The detail and the humor of Ghost Rider comes from Johnson's familiarity with the material and a bit of his own wit. The effects of Ghost Rider, headed up by special effects supervisor Kevin Mack, leading a team from Sony Imageworks, are exceptional. The flaming skull, the flaming motorcycle, and Ghost Rider's fiery ride up the side of a skyscraper are all very impressive computer generated effects.

Nicolas Cage campaigned hard for the role of Johnny Blaze and got it despite the fact that it was written initially for a much younger actor. Cage is a huge fan of Ghost Rider and even had to have a Ghost Rider tattoo on his arm covered with make-up for the movie. Cage brings a sardonic, off kilter charm to Ghost Rider and Johnny Blaze. The fact that the character loves Jelly Beans and Karen Carpenter are odd character details that Cage plays with gusto.

Less interesting is the supporting cast who, aside from Donal Logue's comic relief as Cage's pal, are underwhelming. Eva Mendes is smokin' hot but in an underwritten role she struggles for screen time and is made to look foolish in more than one scene. She, at least, comes off better than Wes Bentley as the film's villain. The American Beauty actor, who has done little since that Oscar winner in 1999, is too slight and affected to be a believable foe for the powerful Ghost Rider. Essentially, Cage's charisma and star power blows Bentley off the screen.

Ghost Rider is flawed and is certainly not in the class of comic book legends like Spiderman or Batman but it is a rollicking, exciting action adventure B-movie. Nicolas Cage is a big star, bigger than the character he plays, and he makes this unusual role work with quirky details and comic book cool. Ghost Rider is funny and exciting, even a little scary for younger audiences. Most important, Ghost Rider is just damn entertaining and that is what it's all about.