3:10 TO YUMA

This is a remake of a very old Western movie of the same name. 3:10 to Yuma (2007) tells the story of a poor rancher who is desperately trying to make a go of ranching and facing down the encroaching railroad company that wants to take his ranch in order to lay more tracks. Along comes a really bad guy named Wade, who is a thief and a ruthless killer. He has robbed the railroad and and robbed the payroll for the railroad from the armored coaches that carry the money.

The railroad is anxious to get this killer to justice, primarily because he's cutting into their profits. Shedding blood of their workers is secondary to them. They hire the desperate rancher to help escort the man to meet a train that will take him to the Yuma prison.

Throughout the R rated film, you see the rancher (Christian Bale), looking at his pocket watch and getting his bearings on how much longer until his part of the job is done as he and a handful of others escort the prisoner (Russell Crowe).

I found the thoroughly western setting and background music to be perfect for this story. Bale's performance as an at-first little respected rancher and as the true hero at the end to be spot on, although my mind kept seeing him dressed all in black and being the ever-cool hero of Equilibrium.