3:10 to Yuma (2007)
Russell Crowe is notorious outlaw Ben Wade and a rich stage headed to Bisbee will make holdup number 22 for his gang.
Christian Bale is down-on-his-luck rancher Dan Evans. He’s headed to Bisbee, too, for a much different reason.
He lost a leg when he was shot by a fellow Union soldier during a retreat in the Civil War.
Now he’s trying to make a living out West with two growing boys and a pretty wife named Alice, and it isn’t going very well.
The railroad wants his land and its henchmen have just burned down his barn.
He’s behind on his bank loan and willing to pawn his wife’s broach to buy them a bit more time before they’re kicked off their land.
He’s with his sons, rounding up his herd after the barn burning, when they witness the ruthless Ben Wade gang in action, robbing the stage and killing most of the guards.
Ben spots Dan and his boys, too, but let’s them live. He does take their horses so they can’t scurry off to town and summon help too quickly.
Once in town, Wade allows himself to get sidetracked by a saloon girl. And that leads to his capture.
But the Pinkertons want help taking Wade to Contention so he can be put aboard the stage to Yuma prison.
Dan agrees to help guard the prisoner. After all, the job pays $200 he sorely needs.
The Pinkertons have a devious plan for throwing Wade’s gang off track should they try to free their leader. But Wade’s pretty devious, too, and the small group guarding him keeps getting whittled down.
Pretty soon, that group is joined by Dan’s son William. And it’s becoming clear that the $200 Dan’s being paid won’t come easy.