3:10 To Yuma

Aroview: Rugged and authentic remake of the '57 western, about a desperate, cash-strapped rancher escorting a notorious outlaw to Yuma via locomotive for trial.

Crowe plays the smouldering desperado whose transport to prison is shadowed by his rebel posse, with Bale fending off attacks as the film’s moral core. Admiring the mano-e-mano conflict between villain and lawman, this acknowledges the time-honoured codes and workmanlike beauty of traditional cowboy movies, opting to respect the genre, rather than turn it on its head. Crowe’s undeniable screen presence lends a further star-quality to the picture’s vintage, with dir. Mangold’s love for westerns shining through in his understated screen craft.