Great movies for actors to grow into, but no decent roles for actresses. "Be careful out there" just doesn't cut it. I knew there was a reason that most westerns bore me.

Westerners aren't my fave, but Christian Bale is one of the all time best of this generation. I wouldn't miss this performance... and thanks for writing about his nuanced performance. He does go subtle when other actors may have blown it out and made it bigger.

Don't know what this signifies, actually, but I'm aware of two westerns made or re-made in the past year or so, Seraphin Falls and 3:10 to Yuma. Both have two male leading roles. Out of the four roles, not a single one is played by an American actor.

Just an observation. Like I said, I don't actually know what it means. Any ideas?

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is coming out in the next couple of weeks. Both leads are played by American actors-Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck.

I saw Yuma in preview last Sunday. GREAT film, tons of fun. The perfs are ALL outstanding. I expected it of Crowe and Bale, but every one of the supporting players steps up to the plate. Don't miss this movie, you won't regret it.

...while reading this review. I'm 54, a semi-serious film fan, and yet I've never seen a western in a movie theater! (Not even any of the spaghetti westerns of the 60's.)

For some reason, this film intrigues me to the point that I'll probably see it. Christian Bale is the main reason, as I'm still reeling from his brilliant work in American Psycho.

BAD Westerns are dead. Ever watch "Silverado", by Lawrence Kasdan? It's "The Big Chill" meets "Shane", and although it had some good dialogue and decent action, overall it was just awful (the gambler played by Jeff Goldblum was actually named "Slick" - good grief!). That was '85. A bit later we had the excrable "Young Guns", in which The Brat Pack got a shot (pun intended) at camping it up in chaps. Again, truly awful.

And then along came "Lonesome Dove" on TV and "Dances With Wolves" and "The Unforgiven" in theatres. All at once Westerns were "back", but they had never left. Good and great filmmakers were just working their way to the subject. And so we started to get wonderful, iconic stuff like "Tombstone" and, as Stephanie mentioned, "The Quick and the Dead."

And now we've got "3:10 to Yuma." There'll be more, rest assured.

I worked on that crappy movie Phenomenon,big P shot that one, it was the only redeaming quality of that poorly acted atrocity.

bye the bye he's a douche bag, but he's top shelf extraordinary.

Interesting and almost a great film. Just saw it and the audience clapped at the end, btw. It's almost superb, but I felt that the pivotal "meaning" scenes, except in the end, are almost lost in the rest of the dialogue and action. They needed more time where all the action stops and you can see the significance sinking in for the characters. I was surprised as it was these "moments" that so obviously made Mangold's "Walk the Line". Although there is one where you can watching Bale's character, you can just hear the thoughts in his head. I also wanted Crowe to be "darker" and more complex. It was as if they couldn't leave the "charm" that Crowe has go to waste and sacrificed the deeper character. Additionally, I found it also surprising that the movie lacked a really decent and powerful musical score that would match if not enhance the powerfulness of the story. While I didn't want the "Magnificent Seven" theme, I think a stirring score, even it were a more subtle would have added to bringing out the emotional depth in scenes.

And Ben Foster, in my opinion, literally steals many scenes. His steps into his character with chilling and deadly accuracy with minimal effort and doesn't waste movement. His character seeps from his pores. He is truly scary. Just an incredible actor in an incredible role. This is an actor to watch. Given the right roles he could go a long way. He is top notch.

Christian Bale is as always, fabulous but the role as it was written didn't give him enough width and depth. I felt he was locked into the weakness and despair of the character in the beginning. The moral value he was expressing didn't hold me into believing it and the valor he wanted to gain was worth dying for in this particular instance. He had a family that needed him, for crying out loud. So, he's going to die just to put Crowe's character in prison... Hmmm...didn't quite buy that. As a matter of fact, the plot seemed rather unbelievably suicidal for him and while I could appreciate the theatrics for entertainment value, I just couldn't believe the motives. The point is, I could have believed if it had been better written.

Most of the actors were excellent and the characters superbly played but the screenplay needed a little more serious consideration.

Having said all this, the movie was wonderful and worth the price of admission...but with a little more effort could have been truly great film.

My wife and I have just moved to Milwaukee after having lived in Montana for the past seven years. It was a thrill to see this movie which was just perfect in its visual sense, pace, and quality of acting. There have been some reviewers who have complained about "bloating in the middle." Well, lemme tell you, most people my age complain about the same thing. Having had the good fortune of living in the high plains I can say that, yes, there are times when nothing seems to be happening. That just enhances the treasury of action moments. This is just a terrific film because it reflects the real lives of people who live in this kind of environment, the gritty decisions they have to make, and the types of social standards they are expected to live up to.