A small-time rancher agrees to hold a captured outlaw who's awaiting a train to go to court in Yuma. A battle of wills ensues as the outlaw tries to psych out the rancher.
Director: James Mangold
Writers: Halsted Welles (screenplay), Michael Brandt (screenplay)
Stars: Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Ben Foster
Story Plot:
Dan Evans (Bale) is an impoverished rancher and Civil War veteran. He owes money to Glen Hollander (Loftin) and when he fails to pay, two of Hollander's men set his barn on fire. The next morning, as Evans and his two sons drive their herd, they stumble upon outlaw Ben Wade (Crowe) and his gang who are using Evans' cattle to block the road and ambush an armored stagecoach staffed by Pinkerton agents. As Wade loots the stage, Wade discovers Evans and his two sons watching from the hills. Acknowledging that they pose no threat to him and his gang, Wade takes their horses telling Evans that he will leave them tied up on the road to Bisbee.
Wade travels with his gang to the town of Bisbee to enjoy a celebratory drink at the local saloon. Evans eventually arrives with lawmen from Bisbee and tries in vain to negotiate with Hollander. Enraged at the loss of his livelihood and land, Evans tries confronting Hollander in the nearby saloon. Evans instead encounters Wade, whom he distracts long enough for the railroad guards to ambush and arrest him.
The coach's owner, Grayson Butterfield, enlists McElroy, Potter, Tucker, one of Hollander's guards, and Evans, who agrees for a $200 fee to deliver Wade for arrest. From Evans' ranch, McElroy arranges a decoy wagon to distract Wade's gang, now led byCharlie Prince. The real prisoner transport charts a course for Contention, where Wade will be put on the 3:10 afternoon train toYuma Territorial Prison.
During the journey, Wade kills Tucker with a fork he stole from the ranch and later McElroy by throwing him off a cliff. William, Evans' oldest son, who had been following the group all the way from the ranch, intercepts Wade. While taking a shortcut through a canyon, the group is attacked by Apaches. Wade kills the attackers and escapes to a Chinese laborer construction camp, where the foreman captures him. Evans, William, Potter and Butterfield appear and regain custody of their prisoner, but Potter is killed in the process. The group arrives in Contention hours before the train's arrival time and check into a hotel, where several local marshals join them.
Wade's gang members ambush the decoy wagon and interrogate the lone survivor. They learn that Wade is being delivered to Contention. Upon their arrival, they offer a reward to any citizen who helps them free Wade, and numerous men volunteer. This triggers a mass resignation of everyone escorting Wade to the train with the exception of Evans.
Evans escorts Wade out of the hotel, and the two make their way across town as they evade continuous gunfire from the townsmen. Wade surprises Evans and nearly strangles him, but relents when Evans reveals that delivering Wade to the train was not just about the money, but to restore his own sense of honor. The only Civil War battle Evans had been involved in was a retreat, and his injury was sustained through friendly fire, a fact that had humiliated him ever since. Delivering Wade would restore his family's finances, guarantee their futures and serve as an accomplishment that his sons could remember well. But Evans is contracted only to successfully deliver his prisoner to the train. In light of this knowledge, Wade agrees to board the train, allowing Evans' contract to be fulfilled.
However, Wade's gang members know nothing of this arrangement. As Wade finally boards, he congratulates Evans. At that moment, Prince walks up from behind and shoots Evans despite Wade's order to stop. Wade steps off the train and catches the gun belt Prince tosses him. Wade abruptly executes Prince along with the rest of his gang. William appears and draws his gun on Wade but finds that he cannot kill him, instead turning to his dying father. However, Wade boards the train and politely surrenders his weapon. Evans' fate is ambiguous as Wade rides the train around a bend. Wade lets out a whistle, and his faithful horse pricks up his ears and gallops after the train, suggesting that Wade will escape once again since he had already escaped twice from Yuma.
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