Appaloosa

Westerns are not typically my thing. Last year we had some good ones, but for the most part, I think Westerns are for people who want people to think they love film. Westerns are like Radiohead: you are supposed to like them so show you are serious. When the trailer first came out for Appaloosa, I thought it looked pretty good and then the reviews reaffirmed that thought. Plus, Ed Harris directed Pollack beautifully and he was directing himself here, as well. But again, Westerns are not really my thing.

Virgil Cole(Harris) and Everett Hitch(Viggo Mortenson) travel the wild wild west enforcing law. They are paid to be "good" guys and in order to do it, they make the towns adhere to their brand of justice. Included in their brand of justice is killing people if they disobey the law. They are brought to Appaloosa because the town is being terrorized by the Bragg gang, led by Randall Bragg(Jeremy Irons). Bragg killed the town's sheriff and his two Marshalls and they town wants him and his gang brought to justice. Cole is an everyman who stumbles to speak in big words and Hitch is a smart man, but a man of few words. Cole tells Hitch he cannot be one of the greats because Hitch has feelings and "feelings get you killed." This theory will be tested for Coles himself because into town strolls Allison French(Rene Zellwegger) and Coles is quickly taken by her. Allison is a piano playing, intelligent and quick witted woman, but she needs to be the center of the world and when she starts to feel neglected she tries to turn to Hitch. Coles and Hitch finally get Bragg and get him to stand trial for his crimes. As he is being transferred to his death, circumstances free him and Coles and Hitch must chase him down again.

I can think of few westerns that feature a script as smart or full of wit as Appaloosa, which is probably the biggest saving grace. First off, this is not your shoot them up western. Guns are drawn and shot only 3 or 4 times and they are not long battles. In a brilliant exchange of dialog, Hitch, after a shoot out exclaims "well that was fast" and in rhythm Coles responds "Everyone was a good shot." It perfectly summarizes the movie in whole. It is a straight to the point film that doesn't take itself overly serious. Ed Harris seems to have a very good handle on the western genre, shooting in a way that is both dirty, sparce and beautifully poetic at times. However, the most important thing in the movie becomes the relationship between Harris and Zellwegger and because of that, the movie ultimately falters.

Zellwegger's appeal is lost on me, but she and Harris have hardly any romantic chemistry. It does not feel like an age thing, they just aren't compatible. Harris and Mortenson have so much more chemistry and I would have seen more focus on them. Mortenson's Hitch bookends the movie with some voice over narration, so we are witnessing this story through his eyes. We see Allison's need to be loved and her willingness to change men quickly to get it, through his eyes. We see Coles change from a hard edged lawman to a kinder, less focused lover boy through the steely cold eyes of Viggo Mortenson's Hitch. It works better that way, I think. It seems less a study in vanity for Ed Harris, by making the audience point of view, Mortenson's point of view.

I was hoping there would be a bit more to the idea of "Feelings get you killed" because it is the tagline of the movie and it is obviously a moment of importance for Coles but in the end, feelings got everyone exactly where they were supposed to go. The ending is not clean cut in terms of being happy or anything like that, but it could have been a more interesting ending. I think it would have required the movie to go deeper than it intended to go though. I was also hoping Jeremy Irons, the greatest voiced villain ever, would have just a bit more to do, but when the movie takes an unusual turn in the third act, the Irons character kind of loses his ability to instill fear in the hearts of men.

Final Grade: C+