Appaloosa - Viggo and Ed Harris together again

Bergerjacques · Mon Aug 10, 2009 8:20 am

Appaloosa - Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen in their second movie together in a damn fine traditional western. Huge expansive desert landscapes, sudden explosive gunplay, a languid pace, and excellent characters locked into differing relationships. The story has been told a number of times. Evil land baron who believes he's above the law (Jeremy Irons) kills a sheriff and some deputies. The nervous leaders of a growing western town hire Virgil Cole (Harris) and his quiet and more educated, but loyal, partner/deputy Everett Hitch (Mortensen) to bring law and order - which basically means granting the gunman/lawman full authority to kill who he needs too.

Enter the very interesting female love interest, Allison (Renee Zellweiger), who arrives into the town of Appaloosa and manages to turn Virgil's head. At first you think a standard three way love interest is going to develop, but then director Harris - (who also co-wrote the screenplay) veers thankfully away from that cliche and, in the process, gives Zellweiger a far more interesting type of character to play. A character, I might add, that seems to me more realistic for the time period. She does have something you could define as love for Virgil Cole, but, as Mortensen observes, she seems to have a thing for the head steer.

Her nature, an instinct for survival out in the west, is toward the person in charge. So despite Allison and Cole becoming a couple early on, Allison commits multiple infidelities with Cole's enemies - and he is prepared to forgive every one.

Appaloosa is a western in the classic mode but with an excellent center that rests more in character than it does on story. My only slight disappointment is that, with all the interesting stuff going on and the excellent acting on display from everyone, that Irons' character, the bad guy Randall Bragg, is not a bit more developed as a character. Its not a two-dimensional character, but aside from being Cobb's foe, he's only given middling depth.

Of course, on the other side of that coin, Bragg is not the center of the story, merely its antagonist, and Irons, under Ed Harris' sure direction, turns in a fine performance. But despite memories of Dungeons and Dragons and Die Hard with a Vengeance, Irons is capable of an incredible range as an actor and one gets the sense that his considerable skills are not fully exploited in Appaloosa.

The fact that we have a second movie to enjoy the chemistry between Viggo Mortensen and Ed Harris is yet one more reason to send David Cronenberg a bouquet of flowers for A History of Violence. In their first meeting, a professional friendship must surely have developed, for both men are as easy in each other's company as Newman and Redford (yes, that is an apt comparison.)

With regard to Zellweiger, there are those who have criticized her recent performances and considered her star a diminishing one. I am not among them. I never regarded her as beautiful in any conventional sense, but as an actress she also displays exceptional skill. I view the trajectory of her acting career as a gently maturing one and it is on display in full measure as she portrays Allison French. She never overplays or oversells herself in Appaloosa and that makes for a better performance all around.

By far, what sells this movie most is its script, which manages the difficult task of relating a seemingly familiar story and yet taking deliberate measures to veer away from any predictability. The writing here is first rate which makes the actors' jobs a lot easier.

One word of note: don't go into this movie expecting an adrenaline rush of action with quick cuts and intense closeups. One thing I really admire is Appaloosa's pace, it is in no hurry to get to its conclusion, and its reliance on medium shots where actors inhabit space and we watch them relate to one another in body language as well as in dialogue. I am truly hard pressed to recall many instances of intense close ups, and for that I am truly thankful.

This is an excellent movie, folks.

Edited By Bergerjacques on 1249916862

Appaloosa - Viggo and Ed Harris together again

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