Just so you know, I'm not really into either Russell Crowe or Christian Bale at all... so I'm not giving this flick a thumbs up just because I like one of them and would see anything they do. Crowe was good in Gladiator, Bale okay in the Prestige, but in YUMA... they were both terrific. Neither of them were trying to outact the other. Their characters were very different but fit so well together and their dialogue worked throughout the whole movie.
The basic story: A rancher, Dan Evans (Bale) is way down on his luck. He lost part of his leg in the Civil War. His land is about to be taken so the railroad can go thru, and drought ruined the season. His one kid has tuberculosis and needs meds, the other one is not proud of his Dad and his wife probably has her doubts too.
The outlaw, Ben Wade (Crowe) and his gang hold up a stagecoach with Pinkerton guards in charge. Wade ends up getting captured. A posse is set up to take him to Contention, where the train (obviously the one due in at 3:10) will travel to Yuma where he'll hang for his crimes. Evans signs up to help escort Wade for a fee of $200 hoping that will save his ranch.
So the transfer begins. Wade, even after capture, has a self-assured and charismatic way about him. Evans is a wounded man in many ways but finds his strength. The other characters all performed well too. Wade's main supporter was pretty brutal and follows the posse planning to free him from his captors. Evans' son gets involved as well.
I won't give away the ending....it was interesting, not exactly what I expected. And being I didn't see the original movie from 1957, I don't know if it followed along with the same storyline or not. I have no real desire to see that version tho. These actors just seemed to start it off right and keep things moving along. Even tho Westerns aren't really my thing (okay, Tombstone was great!).... I would watch this one again!
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