I love westerns. I really do. From the classics (The Searchers, Red River, Winchester ’73, My Darling Clementine, hundreds more) to modern efforts (Unforgiven, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Open Range, 3:10 to Yuma), it’s a genre that never fails to intrigue and satisfy. I was obsessed with HBO’s brilliant show Deadwood and I still lament the early cancellation that it received. David Milch’s creation was as bold and unique as anything that has ever been aired on television, and I can only hope that the recent TV movie rumors are true. Appaloosa, which was co-written and directed by Ed Harris and released in the fall of 2008, is an extremely solid genre entry for anyone who’s a fan of this milieu. Harris stars as Virgil Cole, a gun/sherrif for hire who rides into the dusty town of Appaloosa with his shotgun-toting sidekick Everett Hitch (Viggo Mortensen, one of my favorite actors), looking to find work. They are hired by the town organizers to take out the human trash that has been infecting the area, chiefly, Randall Bragg (a sneering Jeremy Irons) and his gang of thieves and murderers. The set-up is perfect: Two men who are quick with guns are assigned to take care of business. But a wrench is thrown into their plan with the arrival of the saucy Allison French (Renee Zellweger, in one of her best roles), a seemingly dignified woman who comes to town looking to start her life over after her husband’s recent death. Cole falls in love with French almost immediately. He’s a man who has spent his life frequenting brothels rather than looking for a wife, and the notion that this Angel out of nowhere has appeared in an otherwise dangerous town, well, that’s enough for him to want to become lover and protector.
Appaloosa explores classic themes of honor and betrayal and machismo, which are filtered through the lens of a classical western, turning this old-fashioned story into something that never feels out of date. Cole and Hitch are best friends, and Appaloosa, at its heart, is a modern buddy movie, much like most westerns tend to be. There are some well staged and appropriately gritty shoot-outs, but this isn’t a modern day action movie spiced up by western locales like James Mangold’s exciting 3:10 To Yuma remake. Appaloosa is more of a character piece, taking its time to explore the friendship between Cole and Hitch, with everything hinging on character and motivation as much as it does bloody showdown. All of the bullets fired in this film count (and hurt), much like they did in Kevin Costner’s underrated Open Range, with the script smartly saving its violence for the perfect moments. The dialogue between Cole and Hitch has a witty, crackling quality and all of the performances are top-notch, most notably from Zellweger, who was utilized to great effect in this film. Harris, as always, was intense and focused, and Mortensen downplayed his role as Hitch, bring a level of mystery to his character. The film looks nice but isn’t overly “pretty,” with the cinematography by Dean Selmer (We Were Soldiers, Dances With Wolves, Apocalypto), possessing a traditional sense of genre classicism. Appaloosa is solid in every respect, and enjoyable on all levels.
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