3:10 to Yuma

While all of the hype on this remake of the 1957 Western classic hinged on the chemistry between Christian Bale and Russell Crowe pretty much everybody overlooked the fact it was based on a short story by my man Elmore Leonard and what a story it is. I've liked James Mangold as a director since his debut with HEAVY but with 3:10 TO YUMA he simply outdoes himself. I think it unfair to compare this with TOMBSTONE, the films are different beasts but as far as character studies go I'd say you would be hard pressed to find anything better than this. One could almost say it's the chick flick of Westerns making it a perfect choice for a night in as not only will the ladies enjoy the eye candy but there is enough emotional weight to more than satisfy. As for the action, the shoot out at the end looks like it could have come from a John Woo film and special mention must be made of Peter Fonda who seems to only get better with age.