My weekend movies pick

Saw this movie today – 3:10 to Yuma –

The plot – “A small-time rancher agrees to hold a captured outlaw who's awaiting a train to go to court in Yuma. A battle of wills ensues as the outlaw tries to psych out the rancher. “–this is what I read before watching it.

I am so impressed. The action and tension remain constant throughout but, more importantly, the plot is compelling and the acting is terrific.

Russell Crowe is brilliant as the arrogant, amoral outlaw Ben Wade and Christian Bales infuses his role as a beleaguered rancher and Civil War veteran with just the right mix of pathos and dignity. It really was wonderful to see Peter Fonda be given a role in which he was allowed to demonstrate his genuine talent. Logan Lerman plays Bales' teenage son who comes of age in the course of the film- and does a terrific job and deserves the accolades that he shall surely get. Initially disillusioned with a father whom he sees as drudge and a failure, he eventually recognizes his father as the hero he is (or at least becomes). I’ve seen Christian Bale in “The Prestige” and he was fantastic in that one and he lived up to my expectations here with his really neat acting. No doubt many will be impressed by Ben Foster's affected performance as Russell Crowe's loyal but psychopathic sidekick (think Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow) but to my taste it was much too over the top in a cast that offered a number of subtle and well thought out performances.

Cinematically-this film ranks up there with the best westerns of all time. It is consistently beautiful to watch and captures the expanse and majesty of the American west as well as any movie I've ever seen.
In many respects this is a traditional western (it is a remake, after all). They really don't make movies like this much anymore and it will be interesting to see whether it finds an audience in this era of “Saas Bahu Lunatics” and people who are used to seeing 3 hour long no-shows and plot less sagas (involving item girls and group dances).

Showing it to my parents in the evening, let’s see what they think about it.

To watch the trailer click this - http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1809781728/trailer

Rating – 8.5/10 for sure