Appaloosa Synopsis
Renowned gunslinger Virgil Cole (Ed Harris) and his equally gifted friend Everett Hitch (Viggo Mortensen) are two lawmen for hire, hired by the councilmen of Appaloosa, to help in restoring order to the small town, as many of local fear the ruthlessness of local rancher Randall Bragg (Jeremy Irons).
As the film begins, Bragg shoots the current town marshall and his deputies in cold blood, when they attempt to take in two of his acolytes. Seeing no easy solution to this, the leaders of Appaloosa send for Cole and Hitch, who have been known to clean up troublesome towns, for a fee.
As Cole and Hitch arrive in Appaloosa and start setting an example using Bragg's men, the two factions soon come to butt heads, each refusing to acquiesce to each other's demands. With both men swearing to bring in Bragg to justice, with the help of a credible witness (Gabriel Marantz), Cole initates the hunt to bring Bragg down, while trying to retain the affections of a newly arrived lady to the town (Renee Zellweger), who has her heart set on whoever is willing to provide for her.
As the hunt for Bragg (and all of the complications this task implies) reaches a boiling point, both Cole and Hitch will need to decide how best to proceed, to see justice done, while upholding the law despite any reservations they might have, and without losing whatever values they hold dear.
Overall Analysis of Appaloosa
First off, kudos to Ed Harris for daringly accepting to bring to the screen what is one of very few westerns to grace the screen in this day and age. Granted, there have been a few moderately successful films of late, such as 3:10 to Yuma, and a little while back, the Oscar winning Unforgiven. While realizing the challenge bringing a western tale to today's audiences might represent, Ed Harris faithfully handled Robert B. Parker's 2005 novel of the same name, and used it to highlight the essence of what westerns should be: the righteous fight between right and wrong, and doing whatever it takes to bring wrongdoers to justice.
Though the film overall doesn't lend itself well to elements of romance (the semi-romantic scenes between Ed Harris and Renee Zellweger feel awkward at best), the romanticism of the way of the gun still holds true throughout the film.
Ed Harris passes muster as Cole, a seasoned lawman dissilusioned with holding any hope of having a normal life, given his line of work. Viggo Mortensen, of Lord of the Rings fame, shines here as Everett Hitch, a truly gifted gunman, whose unwavering loyalty to Virgil Cole makes him an invaluable ally. Mortensen truly embraces the character, that of a highly intelligent, calculating, reserved hero. His is the performance to look for in this story.
As for the film's villain, one must question the choice of casting Jeremy Irons in the role of Randall Bragg. Though there isn't much stated in the storyline as to Bragg's background, the casting choice of Irons as a ruthless rancher comes easily enough, however Irons is never able to shake off his British airs, and so his portrayal of Bragg feels out of place.
(Writer's Note: Let is not be said that British actors or otherwise, cannot play American cowboys; despite a usually very pronounced Aussie accent, Russell Crowe managed to do well enough in both The Quick and the Dead, and 3:10 to Yuma)
And so, Appaloosa makes for a neat little film, which can be enjoyed by any fan of fun westerns. Though it fails to provide a love story despite its best efforts, it does manage to capture the basic elements of a western story, unashamedly. Overall, Ed Harris can be proud of his project, which managed to keep this reviewer's interest ofr its running time, despite some overlong bits of dialogue.
Appaloosa DVD Features
The disc has a few notable features, namely some deleted scenes, a look into the making of the film, and a glimpse into the work of Dean Semler, the film;s cinematographer. Semler's past work of note, genre-wise, includes Young Guns II, Dances with Wolves, and The Alamo.
7 out of 10, for a decent story, another fine performance by Mortensen, and a successful Western despite the unlikely success of such in this time in cinema. Lost points for slow moving dialogue at times.
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