Movie Review: 3:10 to Yuma

I first heard of 3:10 to Yuma when it was announced on Apple Trailers and I was pretty excited to see Russell Crowe get into a western. Unfortunately, I found out a couple months later that it was going to be rated R. Well, that pretty much took that film off of my 'to watch' list until my parents got me a Clearplay box for Christmas. A Clearplay box is a DVD player that you upload a filter to and it will clean up the movie by skipping the violent, sexual, and profane parts. The following review is off of watching the edited film and NOT the original cut.

Synopsis: A struggling rancher (Christian Bale) is in danger of having his ranch foreclosed on unless he can raise a good deal of money within one week. Luck seems to play into his hand when he helps capture Ben Wade, a famous criminal, (Russell Crowe) and is offered $200 to help transport him across several miles of terrain to catch the 3:10 prison train to Yuma. Unfortunately, Ben Wade has a desperate gang of criminals who will stop at nothing to release their leader from the hands of justice. The story quickly becomes a race against time as they are relentlessly pursued to the very train station.

Entertainment:  !!! (of five !s) There were no parts where the movie dragged, and I really was impressed with the character development that occurred especially in the second half of the film. Although, I found the film entertaining throughout, it's not really worth watching twice. 

Content: !! What can I say? The flick's rated R. I wouldn't even consider watching it without the filter. With that said, however, the objectionable content was to a low enough level that after editing out the junk, I was still able to watch, follow the movie very easily, and follow the plot. 

World-view: !!! Very Hollywood-esque in it's world-view. There is a fourteen year old kid that is continually disobeying his father and saving the day in the process. Christianity is viewed as the norm, and not really affecting the lives of believers. Our 'bad guy' is even rather fluent with the scriptures and recites them on occasion. We find out later that his mother gave him a bible and abandoned him when he was eight years old. Men are asked if they have read the bible before they go into a fight. There is an odd stab at justification for Ben Wade in the surprising twist in the ending (no spoilers here!). 

Summary: Don't touch it without a filter, if you have one, and want to see a different take on a classic western, 3:10 to Yuma is sure to entertain you, if you can get past the Hollywoodiness, with outstanding acting, a fun plot-line, and a very interesting twist in the end.