Appaloosa

Actor-director Ed Harris reunites with his History Of Violence co-star Viggo Mortensen in Appaloosa, as two lawmen-for-hire with their own ways of fighting evil throughout the Wild West.

Hired by the town of Appaloosa, a small dusty village located somewhere in the future state of New Mexico, they’re kind of a Magnificent 7 (minus 5), recruited by the town’s elders to protect them from a rich and very evil villain played by Jeremy Irons.

A small town has been taken over by rampaging outlaws (reminiscent of “the cowboys” in the movie Tombstone) who are, with one exception, the equivalent of modern terrorists. Virgil, played by Harris, and his partner, Hitch (Mortensen) are Civil War veterans who arrive in town looking for work as lawmen. Virgil’s approach is to establish his own set of unbending rules and laws for the town, while aiming to make sure that no one gets away with anything he interprets to be unacceptable behavior. Before he agrees to take on the job of town marshal, Virgil forces the reluctant mayor to sign a contract letting him make and enforce whatever laws he wants. There are brief objections to delegating that much authority to a gunman like Virgil, but realizing that he and Hitch are the town’s only hope of holding out against the formidable and unrepentant Bragg (Jeremy Irons), they give into his demands with barely a whimper.

Adding complications to the plot is the Widow French (played by Rene Zellweger), an oversexed and underprincipled drifter ready to climb into bed with any man around who is willing to surrender to her charms. Virgil is the first to succumb, eventually creating a somewhat strained relationship between him and Hitch.

As the story progresses, there are several set pieces that do not play out entirely as expected. There are gunmen who are in turn both friends and enemies, a surprise encounter with indians, and some overt actions on the part of Widow French that makes you wonder whose side she’s really on.

There is enough humor mixed with the occasional violent gun battle to make you laugh as you wince. You soon realize that the final outcome is going to be based on who among the gunslingers are the faster, braver, and more bulletproof. In spite of all the savagery going on around him, Sheriff Virgil spends his time between battles reading Emerson’s poetry with a dictionary at his side.

Written by Robert B. Parker, Apaloosa, is basically just a pulp western novel distinguished by the presentation and delivery of some very inspired dialogue. Whether the rhetoric and accents are totally authentic is not important, simply because they fit the characters and the circumstances so perfectly.

I found the movie both fun and exciting. Some reviewers have compared Appaloosa to Clint Eastwood’s dark Oscar winner, Unforgiven, but I feel there is more similarity in theme to Open Range, with Harris taking on the Robert Duvall role and Mortensen filling in as the loyal backup portrayed by Kevin Costner.

Kudos to Ed Harris as both star and director. He obviously knows the recipe for a good western, finding the right balance of action with characterization – and humor with bloodshed. Do not misunderstand, this movie is definitely not a comedy. But you are likely to chuckle often as the story plays out. In fact, it is a very straightforward western that attempts to be accurate as to its time and place, with real men on both sides of the law doing what they must do without regard to their mortality.

Well worth two hours in a good theater. I expect at least three Oscar nominations from this great little movie.

Appaloosa, Released by Warner Bros., Rated R , 114 minutes.