Powerful ‘3:10 to Yuma’ an Oscar contender

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In theaters

3:10 TO YUMA, directed by James Mangold, written by Halsted Welles, Michael Brandt and Derek Haas, 117 minutes, rated R.

The new James Mangold movie, “3:10 to Yuma,” follows Kevin Costner’s “Open Range” and Clint Eastwood’s “Unforgiven” in that it comes to the genre having learned plenty from all that came before it. In Mangold’s case, that also meant studying the 1957 original on which his film is based, which happens to be a plus since the movie is a classic.

This beautifully acted, expertly staged film is infused with the sense that there still is more to be discovered in the Old West.

Given the enthusiasm with which he directs, it’s clear that Mangold (“Walk the Line”) came to the material charged with the sense that he could manipulate familiar stock Western conventions and make them appear fresh again so long as he had the story, the characters and the cast to back up his bravado.

That he does is an understatement. “3:10 to Yuma” is one of the more exciting, engrossing movies to come along in a while.

Based on Elmore Leonard’s short story, itself inspired by the 1952 movie “High Noon,” the film’s plot is as lean and as simple as you’d expect from Leonard, but none of that simplicity translates to the characters, who are complex and human in ways that make for a satisfying, emotionally rich narrative.

Christian Bale is Dan Evans, a down-on-his-luck rancher with a bum leg and a bum life who is trying to keep it together in Bisbee, Ariz., in the late 1800s. Thanks to a drought, his cattle are dying off, which is fueling an already tense situation at home.

Though his youngest boy adores him, his eldest son, Will (Logan Lerman), and Dan’s wife, Alice (Gretchen Mol), have lost faith in him – Will looks at him in disgust, Alice with pity, neither of which exactly makes Dan feel like the man he longs to be.

When into his life comes Russell Crowe’s Ben Wade, an infamous outlaw with a string of robberies and murders behind him, Dan is faced with an opportunity to regain the respect he has lost when Wade is captured. A railroad official (Dallas Roberts) offers him $200 to help bring Wade to justice.

Given the viciousness of Wade’s posse, which is led by the chilling Charlie Prince (Ben Foster in an Academy Award-worthy supporting performance), it’s a risky proposition, but Dan’s desperation to turn his life around is so great, he nevertheless accepts it. Against his wife’s wishes, he joins the railroad official and his men (including Peter Fonda and Alan Tudyk) on a two-day trip to Contention City, where Wade will be placed on the 3:10 train to Yuma and meet his maker when he arrives there at the prison.

What ensues is just as action-packed and as disastrous as you’d expect – Wade’s men want their leader back and they’re skilled enough to do it – but what you might not expect is the odd bond that grows between Dan and Ben. With Dan choosing a life of good and Ben a life of evil, each becomes fascinated by the other, which allows Mangold to mine unexpected depths from a movie that, in the wrong hands, could have relied solely on action and thus wouldn’t have allowed for the terrific performances Mangold pulls from Crowe and Bale.

In the end, if “3:10 to Yuma” doesn’t find itself on the short list of Academy Award contenders, this film itself has been robbed.

Grade: A

On DVD

GRACIE, directed by Davis Guggenheim, written by Lisa Marie Petersen and Karen Janszen, 94 minutes, rated PG-13.

The soccer movie “Gracie” is a personal tale about one teenage girl’s struggle to come into her own in the wake of her brother’s death.

The film comes from Davis Guggenheim, the Academy Award-winning director of the global-warming documentary “An Inconvenient Truth,” and what he creates is something of a polished, fictionalized home movie.

“Gracie” is, after all, a family affair. Guggenheim conceived the story and co-produced it with his brother-in-law, Andrew Shue. Together, they based their story on the formidable early years of Andrew’s sister and Guggenheim’s wife, Elisabeth Shue (“Leaving Las Vegas”), who as a young girl in New Jersey was the only female student to play in the then male-dominated sport.

The idea was to create a movie that honored Andrew and Elisabeth’s brother Will, who died in 1988 after a tragic accident, as well as the family’s love for soccer, which was fueled by their father Jim, who now lives in Hampden and who captained the Harvard College team in 1958. What they have crafted is a solid movie that might ride the rails of formula, but which isn’t afraid to veer off them in key moments that keep the movie appealingly off center.

Set in 1978, the film follows the rapidly dissolving relationship between Gracie Bowen (Carly Schroeder), her mother (Shue) and father (Dermot Mulroney) after Gracie’s brother (Jesse Lee Soffer), a local star soccer player, dies in a car accident. When Gracie decides she has what it takes to join the boy’s team herself (with the help of Title IX), she endures the very discrimination that policy is there to protect against. It’s her determination to see this effort through – not to mention her tumultuous relationship with her father – that nudges her toward athletic success.

Schroeder’s winning performance makes the film – her convincing turn helps to quash the typical sports movie cliches the script courts. She proves a highlight in a story that will speak volumes to those who have been marked by discrimination, regardless of their age or gender, and who have overcome it to excel.

Grade: B

Visit www.weekinrewind.com, the archive of Bangor Daily News film critic Christopher Smith’s reviews, which appear Mondays, Fridays and weekends in Lifestyle, as well as on bangordailynews.com. He may be reached at Christopher@weekinrewind.com.

The Video-DVD Corner

Renting a video or a DVD? BDN film critic Christopher Smith can help. Below are his grades of recent releases in video stores. Those in bold print are new to video stores this week.

Akeelah and the Bee – B+

Apocalypto – C

Because I Said So – C

Blades of Glory – B+

Blood Diamond – C+

Breach – B+

Breaking and Entering – C-

Bridge to Terabithia – B+

Casino Royale – A

Charlotte’s Web – B+

Children of Men – A

The Condemned DVD, Blu-ray – D

The Dead Girl – A-

Dead Silence – F

Death Proof – B+

Deja Vu – C+

The Departed – A

The Devil Wears Prada – B+

Disturbia – B

Doom HD DVD – C+

Dreamgirls – B

Eragon – C

Everyone’s Hero – C+

Fail Safe – A-

Flags of Our Fathers – B+

Flushed Away – B+

For Love of the Game HD DVD – B

The Fountain – D

Fracture – C

Georgia Rule – D+

Ghost Rider – C-

The Good German – C

The Good Shepherd – B-

Grey’s Anatomy: Third Season – C

Hannibal Rising – C

Happy Feet – A-

The Hills Have Eyes II – D

The History Boys – B+

The Holiday – C+

Hollywoodland – C

I Dream of Jeannie: Fourth Season – B+

The Illusionist – B+

Infamous – B+

Invincible – B

The Last King of Scotland – B+

Letters from Iwo Jima – B+

Little Children – A-

The Lives of Others – A

Lucky You – C+

The Marine – C+

Music and Lyrics – B

Night at the Museum – C+

Notes on a Scandal – B+

The Number 23 – D

The Painted Veil – B+

Pan’s Labyrinth – A

Perfect Stranger – C-

Premonition – C-

The Prestige – B+

Primeval – D

The Queen – A-

Rocky Balboa – B+

A Scanner Darkly – B+

Sherrybaby – B+

Shooter – C+

Stargate Atlantis: Complete Third Season – B

Supernatural: Second Season – B

TMNT – C

Troy: Director’s Cut – DVD, HD DVD, Blu-ray – C-

U-571 HD DVD – C-

Unaccompanied Minors – C

Vacancy – C+

Van Helsing HD DVD – B

Venus – B+

We are Marshall DVD, HD DVD, Blu-ray – D

Zodiac – C