by Andrew Clarke

Last updated 12:33, Thursday, 02 October 2008

JUST when you think the genre of the good old-fashioned Western has had its day, along comes 3:10 To Yuma, boasting an all-star cast and billed as the best film of its kind since Clint Eastwood’s legendary Unforgiven.

Whether that is true or not remains to be seen, but Yuma does have all the necessary ingredients to satisfy lovers of the traditional Western as well as to broaden its appeal to new-found fans.

It has all the gun-slinging action you would expect, but is much more than a run of the mill shoot-em-up cowboy caper. Yuma has a genuinely interesting story of desperation, loyalty and redemption plus, which is a must for any Western film, a cracking “baddie” in Russell Crowe.

Crowe, as outlaw Ben Wade, is the best thing about 3:10 To Yuma. Few actors can portray both affection and menace with same look, but, in avoiding the one-dimensional bad guy routine, Crowe manages it to create the loveable antagonist of the piece with exemplary style.

Contrast the cocky Wade with Christian Bale’s character, Dan Evans, and you have two men who couldn’t be more different.

Evans is a proud family man who was injured in the Civil War and is struggling to keep his head above water after his ranch is devastated by a drought.

In debt and desperate, Evans agrees to a £200 reward to help transport the recently arrested Wade to Contention, Arizona where he will catch the 3:10 train to Yuma prison. On their dusty trek, the party encounter Apache Indians, vicious bandits and, in adversity, the complex relationship between polar opposites Wade and Evans begins to unravel.

The lines between good and evil are blurred in Yuma, and that’s its beauty. The viewer, and the Dan Evans character, should traditionally despise Wade and everything he stands for. But Crowe gives the character such charm that you can’t help be on his side when he sings mournfully that he “will be hanged in the morning.”