This is a western story by Elmore Leonard ( Get Shorty, Out of Sight ) turned into a movie. The story is about a family that is reunited after the father returns from the Civil War as a changed man but inside he is still the same and the family returns to their home in Arizona.

Tom Selleck plays Paul Cable an ex-Confederate cavalryman who rides back to his strong willed west Texas wife played by Suzy Amis. Together they head back to there home in Arizona angry with each other but willing to see if they can make a new start in their life together. The conflicts between husband and wife have a very difficult time being resolved because so many events and people get in the middle of their business.

Cable is searching for a peaceful life but the war ends and he still has another big battle to complete before he and his wife can begin their healing.

This is an excellent western movie with believable actors playing realistic down home people. The story is engaging and I personally believe that the events in the story happened many more times than we would actually acknowledge. This is a definite see for a western movie I completely enjoyed it.

This is a western movie steeped in the traditions of New Mexico. The movie is adapted from a short story by Elmore Leonard. The opening scene is where Dan Evans, played by Christian Bale, is awakened in the night by noises in his ranch yard. When he gets to the window he sees his barn is on fire and the culprits riding away. He tries to save the things in the barn but is outrun by his oldest son William, played by Logan Lerman. Dan falls in his rush and you see that he has only one complete leg. He has failed in life as seen through the vision taken by his son, who is only fourteen.

The next day Dan and his two sons travel away from the ranch house to round up their cattle. Dan wants to settle with the moneylender. In searching for the cattle Dan and his sons observe a stagecoach robbery at its conclusion, where they see the systematic killings of the guards. The leader of the gang is Ben Wade, portrayed by Russell Crowe. His second-in-command is Charlie Prince, played by Ben Foster, a deadly protective murderer.

The Evans family goes down the hill and checks out the stagecoach. They discover only one survivor, a Pinkerton, Byron McElroy, played by Peter Fonda. He is put on a board and dragged toward town. Ben Wade is discovered in town and Dan steps up with the help of a money incentive to arrest Ben Wade. The Pinkerton survives and helps in the movement of Ben Wade to the larger town and the train to Yuma. Several of the posse members that are taking Ben to the train are killed on this trip.

Arriving in town, begins the tale of good versus evil. Now to the end of the movie, it is a continued conflict with mental struggles between good and bad. The ultimate question is, will Dan Evans do the right thing? The temptations are great as the viewer sees more of the life choices taken by both characters. It is just one/half mile walk to the station from the hotel to catch the 3:10 to Yuma. Can he make it and does he want to do it?   The gang, not wanting Ben Wade to get on the train to Yuma, galvanizes the town against the law. We now have a big gunfight with all the bad guys and the town people getting involved.

This was a great western movie with all the things you would want and have grown up to expect. This movie is on my Top 100 Best Western Movies List. You can find them on my sidebar. I recommend this movie to all western buffs as well as those viewers who view the western movies or books as a part of America’s western mystic.