Viewed in
2007
Premise
In this remake, a down-trodden rancher is in charge of bringing an arrested criminal to his hanging while his gang attempt to free him.
Who should watch
Russel Crowe and Christian Bale fans. Those who like character-driven westerns.
Thoughts
A very enjoyable film full of great acting.
It would have been so easy to play the bad guy role as over-the-top bad-ass. But Crowe played it subtly and intelligently, allowing the audience to like his character. Christian Bale continued his streak of cool characters in this decade. (If Clive Owen and Bale ever make a movie together, I think I will explode.) While action fans might find the beginning slow, it gave the major and minor characters time to show themselves. The cast was very interesting: the great Peter Fonda was cool, Ben Foster proved that he can act when given a good role, Alan Tudyk had some funny moments(so far he seems the most successful of the 'Firefly' cast), and Luke Wilson's cameo was just plain weird.
While the film did not bring anything new to the genre, it was overall very well done. I liked the revelations for the rancher and criminal. I also like the subplot of the rancher and his son's dynamic. Usually it's the son who is trying too hard to impress his father. It might be a bit predictible, watching how the two men start to respect each other with the acting skills of Bale and Crowe made it a very satisfying story.
What I would change
Nothing.
