Rating of
3/4
A solid western from Ed Harris.
Movies - wrote on 11/30/08
In recent years filmmakers have been, for whatever reason, straying away from the western genre. Last year we saw the riveting remake of 3:10 to Yuma and the character study Jesse James come to the big screen in top caliber fashion. I've been highly anticipating Ed Harris' take on the western genre ever since I saw the trailers months ago. Appaloosa is not a film that changes the western genre like 3:10 to Yuma, or as fast paced and explosive as the James Mangold film. However, it's an excellent tale between two comrades with sturdy moral codes that's shaken up by the irritating and mysterious arrival of a widow
Ed Harris stars, directs, produces, and co-writes Appaloosa, based on the Robert B. Parker novel of the same name. Harris plays Virgil Cole, an interesting, hard-nosed character that sucks you from the very beginning. Viggo Mortensen plays Everett, Virgil's more intelligent right hand man and quiet sidekick. They seem to have a ton of history together, and prance right into the town of Appaloosa that's in complete disarray thanks to Jeremy Irons, playing Randall Bragg the film's main antagonist. Virgil and Everett are hired to clean up the town, or more well put, get the town handed to them so they could do what they have to do.
Given the two leads history, this seemed like an easy job, an in and out and move to the next town that's in need of help procedure. However, Renee Zellweger who's been receiving a lot of flack for this movie, takes on the role of Allison, the non-loyal girl that shakes things up between the two men and their work at hand. Here's the problem, for the first hour and change, I was ready to call this one of the best films of the year. As the film progresses the love story seems to take center stage, and I just wasn't buying it. Here we have the most amusing relationship in a western, well since Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. This could have been the focal point in its second half, diving deeper into the buddy relationship that I really just wholly admired. Instead, Harris chose to wonder into romance territory. Why am I so hard on the romance here? Well, I thought Harris did a mediocre job developing the love tension between Virgil and Allison. Was there any on her side? Why does Virgil fall in love with her so heavily?
Despite the criticism, Appaloosa should be seen in theaters, or at least on dvd. The chemistry between Harris and Mortensen is terrific. It's intriguing to see the balance between the two leads. Virgil Cole is more or less the leader, having the best shot and hard-nosed mentality that a man like him should posses. Everett Hitch is the sidekick, but always keeping Virgil in check, always staying loyal to his partner no matter how much he's pushed to the brink of uncertainty. Additionally, I admired the way Ed Harris personified Allison. She's not very loyal, and easily influenced. Some people might be pissed off by this characterization but it's staying true to the low and poor future women had at this time period. Women were always looking for the best man they could get, and Allison, exposing her poverty level right from the start, keeps consistent with the historical undertone of the 19th century. Furthermore the script co-written by Harris was a lot better than I thought, bringing a lot of wit and humor to the story. The gun fights are short and sweet, no unrealistic twenty minute shootouts like in Mangold's Yuma, though it was great eye candy. Jeremy Irons plays a satisfactory baddie here, a straight up bad guy with no grey in between.
Ed Harris has crafted an excellent traditional western that showcases the great acting himself and Mortensen have to offer. It's not a revolutionary take or riveting one like the Yuma remake we had the privileged to see last year, but it's a great study of an intriguing friendship that's pushed into adversity by a widow who's just not very loyal, and very easily manipulated given the role of women during the backdrop of the 19th century. It's a close call because I want to give this film an eight, but I just can't get my mind off the love arc that had a non-deserving influence in Appaloosa's satisfactory conclusion. Maybe with age Appaloosa will become a western favorite of mine, but for now it stands as a western that had the potential to be great, but settled to be good.
