A reader I know who doesn’t want his name mentioned saw James Mangold‘s 3:10 to Yuma on 6.18. I’m running it mainly as a counterpoint to that recently posted AICN review that came out of the same research screening:
“I have to say that it was a very good film but nowhere near great or classic,” he begins. “There’s nothing remotely wrong with it — the story is solid, the performances were really good, but I was just expecting a little bit more. The whole movie seems to be building up to the end so a lot of the scenes in the middle dragged the film down a bit. I just wish the movie was a little more suspenseful and tense.
“That said, I was never bored and never wanted the film to end. The best part, for me, was Ben Foster, who plays one of the members of Russell Crowe‘s gang. He gives such a creepy performance you wish you could shoot him yourself. Both Crowe and Christian Bale give solid performances, but you expect that much from them. There relationship in the film reminded me a bit of Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx‘s in Collateral.
“The movie doesn’t reinvent the western and probably won’t win any awards, but it’s entertaining enough. Fans of the genre should like it a lot. But if you haven’t seen the trailer yet, don’t watch it — it literally gives away 95% of the movie. I think lionsgate was forced to do this because they wanted to sell it as an action packed western, when most of the action doesn’t occur until the last fifteen minutes.”