Appaloosa

[MacGuffin]

Trailer here.

Release Date: October 3rd, 2008 (limited)

Starring: Ed Harris, Viggo Mortensen, Renee Zellweger, Jeremy Irons, Robert Knott, Timothy V. Murphy 

Directed by: Ed Harris

Premise: When two gunmen, Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch, arrive in Appaloosa they find a small, dusty and lawless town suffering at the hands of renegade rancher Randall Bragg.

[gob]

This is one of my most anticipated at the moment. I love Ed Harris and Viggo. I thought his previous directorial outing Pollock was great. Hate Zellwegger but everything so far is pointing in the direction of success.

[Sleepless]

Agree with Gob, looking forward to this one. Really liking Viggo. Hate Zellwegger.

[cron]

Timothy V. Murphy 

could this guy become a PTA actor?

[I Love a Magician]

j. irons is just plainviewin' it up in this shit

[Gold Trumpet]

SPOILERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


I wanted to like this more because I appreciated the intentions. Harris wants to flip the tough guy act of the Western genre on its head and make a film about men who have to play out tough identities, but can't get past their weaknesses. In this case, Harris' character's need to be with a certain woman.

The set up is classic Western. Two gunmen ride into a rebellious town to restore order and find themselves at odds with a local business tyrant. The story slips into the cliches so quickly that it's obvious the film will readily move past them. It does when the partnership between the gunmen explodes over the interests of a woman. Then the film becomes something even more fascinating when the woman openly cheats on one of them with the film's antagonist. Instead of fighting for his woman, Harris' character decides to live with life as is and wave his own white flag.

The story could be good drama or comedy. Harris tries to get the material live between the boundaries of both. Some scenes in the film extend further than standard Westerns and convey good nuance while other scenes show unexpected moments of humor that make light of the Western cliche. I really liked all the moments that surprised me and I liked when the film felt over but had a second life that took it into another, much more interesting, territory. If the film would have ended afer the first shoot out then Harris would have honored many traditions of the genre.

What kept me from truly liking the film is that Harris doesn't do enough to rid the film of standard Western. There is more build up and anticipation for the kidnap and rescue between the gunmen than there is for the human issues of the story. The latter elements come unexpectedly and are charming, but still not satisfying. The human elements exist in a trickle down effect through out the film.

When Peter Fonda made The Hired Hand, he dealt with a story that had the shell of a Western story but nothing about the film had the mold and shape of a Western. Harris should have abandonded the old adventure structure more. He could have told the same story essentially, but not frame so much of the action in the standard mold that people were playing out old Western favorites in their head. I saw a million set ups in this film that are considered just rudimentary.

[MacGuffin]

This was great. Harris and Mortensen's chemistry ranks right up there with Newman and Redford's. It wasn't as Tombstone as the trailer has you believe; but instead it focuses on the people and the relationships.

[private witt]

Yeah, people who have built their lives upon a history of violence!  Zing!