Appaloosa - REVIEW

The western hasn't had it very easy for quite some time. Even with a critical acclaim of last year's 3:10 to Yuma and The Assassination of Jesse James, the 2000s have done the opposite for this genre as they've done for the musical: they've ensured that the genre stays dead and buried. In spite of this, some filmmakers try anyway to take us back to the old west. This time it's actor turned director Ed Harris, adapting a novel by the same name. Though his directing skills are nothing astonishing, Mr. Harris does succeed in making a solid entry into the western pantheon. Though Appaloosa's first half feels a bit rushed, its slow burning second half allows for the acting to really come through (mainly from Viggo Mortensen, who steals the show). Not wasting anytime, the film starts off with a simple crime which will drive the plot even after you think it's all said and done with. Entering Appaloosa are lawmen Virgil Cole (Harris) and Everett Hitch (Mortensen), who become the town's new marshall and deputy respectively. Not much time passes before they have their first encounter with a local outlaw who seems perfectly comfortable strutting into town with his men (Jeremy Irons). Cole and Hitch's no nonsense approach to the law is off putting to Bragg (Irons) who tries to charm them. Not much later a widow, Mrs. Allison French (Renee Zellweger) comes to Appaloosa and catches Virgil's eye. What follows is a surprisingly irregular tale in terms of pacing and confrontation, that doesn't end the way one would expect it to. Mortensen and Harris have a great chemistry between their characters, especially when the more soft spoken Hitch helps Cole complete his sentences. In some ways, it's quite quirky (at least for a western). There are problems with this modest but handsome adaptation however. The pacing in the first half feels a bit rushed, especially the romance that blooms between Virgil and Allison. However, unlike 3:10 to Yuma, there isn't a need to try and fill every other scene with action (there are probably only two or three fights, and each one lasts only a matter of seconds), and it works as a character study, mainly in the slowed down second half where we actually get to feel something for the characters. Here is where Mortensen, so reserved throughout the whole picture, really shines. While it's not the next Unforgiven, Appaloosa, flaws and all, is certainly a worthy entry in the short line of films that have tried to resurrect the western genre.

Grade: B

Nominations: Best Actor - Viggo Mortensen(#4)

Number of 2008 Films Seen: 34