The Frame

The western genre has been trying to mount a comeback for years, and this might just be the film to do it. It’s about as perfect a western as this modern era can conjure; the acting is wonderful, the music great, the script perfect, the story superb. Russell Crowe plays the bad guy who needs to be taken to the train station for transport to his trial; Christian Bale is the quiet farmer who takes the unhealthy job of keeping him from being set free by his bloodthirsty gang. The western is the American myth–as such, it’s larger than life, and questions of honor outweigh most everything else. These elements tend to be lost in more modern “realistic” film, but 3:10 to Yuma balances generic and modern sensibilities better than almost any recent western. The only, seriously, the only question I have is, could we not have some deep focus photography instead of all the rack focusing? And some wide shots instead of all mediums and close-ups? Those trends in modern cinematography just don’t always work for the western, but I give the filmmakers props for trying to merge some of current action trends into the western–sometimes it works wonderfully here, but other times, less so.
Well Above Average