Appaloosa (Warner Bros./New Line)
Rated R for some violence and language.
Starring Ed Harris, Viggo Mortensen, Renée Zellweger, Jeremy Irons, Lance Henriksen, Timothy Spall.
Written by Robert Knott and Ed Harris.
Directed by Ed Harris.
GRADE: B
REVIEW
By Dan MetcalfI want to be a cowboy. Who doesn't? Many boys dream of putting on boots and a hat, with a six-gun at their side, ready to draw on a bad guy in black. Even though many guys never get a chance to be western heroes of their boyhood fantasies, some never get over the cowboy dream. That seems to be the case for Ed Harris, who just couldn't help but get deeply involved in the making of
Appaloosa, an adaptation of Robert Parker's western novel. Harris directed and stars in the film, as well as co-wrote the screenplay.
Harris plays Virgil Cole, a gun-for-hire traveling lawman who settles down in the tiny New Mexico town of Appaloosa with his sidekick protégé Everett Hitch. Virgil and Everett were summoned by the town's leaders to replace the former town marshall, who was gunned down in cold blood by the resident western mob leader Randall Bragg, played by Jeremy Irons.
Virgil and Everett work fast to bring law and order to the town, and are doing fine until the mysterious Allison (Zellweger) arrives and Virgil is struck by cupid's arrow. Cole vows to marry and settle down with Allison, at least after he dispatches Bragg and his gang.
As expected, Allison comes between the two friends and becomes a liability in the battle between good and evil. When Bragg is convicted of the former marshall's murder and is in the process of prison transfer, a hostage situation involving Allison ensues and the two lawmen embark on a mission to rescue her and bring the bad guy to justice. As the story develops, it seems as though the heroes cannot win, especially after an anti-climactic gun battle which leaves Virgil crippled. Even after all their efforts, the bad guys seem to win until an abrupt reckoning at the end of the movie.
Appaloosa is a western in every sense, with all the stereotypes and cliches one would expect in a cowboy epic. Ed Harris' performance is adequate, but it's Mortensen's Everett that steals the show. His characterization is reserved without all the melodramatics and stupid, typical sidekick one-liners.
Zellweger is a different story. Her performance is not a good compliment to Harris or Mortensen, and I can't decide whether she looks too old or too young for the part. Another blaring oddity is Jeremy Irons as Bragg. His English accent just doesn't quite make the full transition to the old west, even with a shaky back story. Weren't Billy Bob Thornton, Powers Boothe or Dennis Hopper available?
It seems as though Ed Harris got a little too self-indulgent in a movie with big dreams and a smaller than epic budget. His direction of the final edited project is slow in the spaces between action scenes, and the movie seemed about 20 minutes too long to keep my interest.
Even so,
Appaloosa is decent movie by western standards. It isn't quite as powerful as 1992's
Unforgiven or as classic as 1953's
Shane, but it will do for anyone who still dreams of being a cowboy.
