Appaloosa
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Movie Reviews of Appaloosa
Movie Review: A western for grown-ups.It's not about the guns, horses or bullets. It's about friendship, sex and, ultimately, love.
Summary: 5 Stars
Be warned right now - this movie review is mostly one giant spoiler. Here's the non-spoiler parts right up front. This is a movie that strives to look authentic. The two main characters have known each other for years and have no need for a lot of dialogue - they know each other well, they know each other's habits and their conversations are spare.
Many reviewers have missed the whole point of the movie. It was not about two buddies/lawmen bringing peace to a town, although that does happen (mostly) and the gun fights are quick, brutal and ugly. The movie is about what happens when such a partnership is disrupted by a woman. Look at the DVD cover art and you can see it symbolically represented - there is Renee Zellweger standing between Mortensen and Harris.
****Spoiler alert****The rest of the review is just full of spoilers******
In this case, the woman is a pathetic, despicable thing. The movie comes from a Robert B. Parker book and his books are full of people (mostly women, but not always) that claim to be in love but really they are psychologically needy and act out sexually in strange, disruptive ways.
There are four main characters in this story: Marshal Virgil Cole, Deputy Everett Hitch, Bragg (a rancher/hotel owner) and Mrs. French, a pathetic woman that leeches onto powerful men out of some deep seeded need that we never quite have explained. Suffice it to say, Mrs. French is a survivor because she uses sex to endear herself to the most powerful man in her immediate area.
Many have misinterpreted (in my opinion, anyway) the "big" fight scene at the end. Here's my take
Hitch kills Bragg, but not to defend the honor of Zelweger character, Mrs. French, because she has none to defend. Instead, it is to restore Cole to his rightful place - top dog. Cole won't do anything about it because he loves Mrs. French. She's the first woman he's ever actually talked to about anything except food, sex or meaningless pleasantries - and he loves her despite her messed up, trampy ways. That is his fatal flaw.
Hitch, out of love as Cole's friend, cannot stand to see Cole shamed by Bragg so he defends Cole. Hitch kills Bragg, but in doing so he is now the top dog, rather than Bragg or Cole. In order for Cole to stay in town with the woman he loves and for that relationship to even exist, Hitch has to leave town. If he stays, Mrs. French will just try to seduce him and the Cole/Mrs. French relationship will end. Also, the Hitch/Cole relationship will end.
So, out of friendship, Cole kills Bragg so that Cole has the chance of keeping the woman he loves, even though it ends the Cole/Hitch relationship. Deputy Hitch sacrifices the friendship in order to give his friend a chance at happiness with Mrs. French. Truly, a beautiful moment, although subtly played.
Movie Review: "Appaloosa" is excellent!
Summary: 5 Stars
"Appaloosa" is excellent! This is how the story goes: 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. Bragg has not only taken supplies, horses, and women for his own, but also has left the city marshal and a deputy for dead. In Bragg they find an unusually wily adversary who raises the stakes by playing with emotions. It is now up to Cole and Hitch to stand against the actions of the renegade rancher, which have already taken their toll on the town.
The cast led by Oscar nominee Ed Harris (as Virgil Cole and who also directed, co-produced and co-wrote the screenplay), Oscar nominee Viggo Mortensen (as Everett Hitch), Oscar winner Renee Zellweger (as Allison French), & Oscar winner Jeremy Irons (as Randall Bragg) is excellent! The directing by Harris (who also produced and directed and starred in "Pollock" (2000) is excellent! The screenplay (based on Robert B. Parker's novel) by Harris & Robert Knott (who also co-produced and did second unit directing) is excellent!
The music by Jeff Beal (who also did the music to "Pollock", and certain television shows like "Monk", "Rome", "Ugly Betty", & "Carnivale") is excellent! The cinematography by Dean Semler (who also did the cinematography to "Get Smart" (2008) & won the Oscar for his cinematography work on "Dances With Wolves" (1990) is excellent! The film editing by Kathryn Himoff (who also did the film editing to "Pollock") is excellent! The casting by Nicole Abellera & Jeanne McCarthy (who also did the casting to "Synecdoche, New York" (2008), "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" (2008), & "Be Kind Rewind" (2008) is excellent! The production design by Waldemar Kalinowski (who also did the production design to "The Fast And The Furious" (2001) is excellent! The art direction by Steve Arnold (who was an supervising art director on "Spider-Man" (2002) is excellent! The set decoration by Linda Lee Sutton (who also did the casting to "Crash" (2005) & the upcoming "Crossing Over" (2008 or 2009) is excellent! The costume design by David C. Robinson (who also did the costume design to "Pollock" & the upcoming "I Love You Phillip Morris" (2009) is excellent!
This is an excellent western that is just as excellent as westerns we have been seeing lately. This is Ed Harris' best movie as a director. This is one of the best films of the year. This is also an interesting and different western that we aren't used to seeing.
Movie Review: Faithful to the original novel: a story of friendship in the Old West
Summary: 5 Stars
The Robert P. Parker novel of the same name is a story of late 19th Century friendship. If you've read Kipling or any of several 19th Century novelists, you'll recognize the kind of relationship. It is far more intimate on one level than anything most men would feel comfortable with today and, at the same time, more distant and respectful of boundaries.
Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch have been lawmen roving the west for a dozen years. If a town needs a sheriff or town marshall, they're for hire. Cole, in particular, is quick to resolve things with violence. Neither man is hesitant to be judge., jury and executioner when they think what they believe is the law has been violated.
They come to the town of Appaloosa where Town Marshall Jack Bell has recently gone missing. The audience knows he has been murdered by local evil doer Randall Bragg. Aside from the obviousness of his evil, not much is ever know about Bragg except that he has 20 or more men working for him who apparently are willing to kill on command. Or or the fun of it.
Obviously Cole and Everett, the newly minted Town Marshall and Deputy, will have to tke control of this situation - and through a mixture of very tough diplomacy and some shooting they do. One of Bragg's men offers to become a witness and Bragg is seized.
Perking along in the background is the mysterious Mrs. Allison French who gets off alone from the train one day, pronounces herself a widow and immediately makes a move on Cole. Everett is disconcerted by this and even more so when Allison (Allie) makes a move on him.
The tension between Cole, Everett and Allie doesn't come across as effectively in the movie as in the novel, but it is there.
While Bragg awaits trial, two gunfighters come to town. Cole says they are perhaps as good as he is.
At this point, anything else I say would be a spoiler.
Suffice it to say, that the rest of the movie is a well done 19th Century "buddy" film, not at all like "Butch Cassidy", but more like the 1930s "Beau Geste" and others.
Ed Harris, Viggo Mortenson and Jeremy Irons turn in fine performances. Renee Zellwegger is never quit believable. The story is slow, as is befitting, the setting. The relatively few action scenes are well done.
Above all, this is a film about friendship - and it is well done. Those expecting endless gunplay and violence will be disappointed.
Jerry
Movie Review: When The Talking Stops, The Dying Begins
Summary: 5 Stars
Appaloosa, New Mexico, 1842, outlaws have taken over the town. Randall Bragg played by Jeremy Irons, has shot the sheriff and wants to declare he has this town. As a result the town leaders hire Virgil Cole,as the new marshall played by Ed Harris, and Everett Hitch,the deputy as played by Viggo Mortensen. Virgil is the best shot in the territory, and Everett has killed many a man. But they are peace makers for hire. They have a history, and as a result they can read each other's minds. They are here to take Randall Bragg down and reclaim the town. Renee Zellweger plays a widow who comes to town, looks like a schoolmarm but goes from man to man for security and comfort. She is convincing and effective as the woman who plays a piano as well as she plays Virgil.
Ed Harris wrote the script and directed the film. This is an old fashioned western that is steeped in the ways of yore. The nitty gritty day to day life in a dusty, forgotten towh. Of note, Ed Harris directed his father in this film. Bob Harris plays the town judge. In 1842 the guns were heavy. Viggo Mortensen had to carry around his 8 guage shot gun and in a few days it became his best friend. These two friends create unique characters. Ed Harris is a no-nonsense, real man. His feelings are easily hurt, and he does not recover quickly. Viggo Mortensen plays a kinder, gentler man who is level headed and more stable. They are both good honest men, and make these traits compelling.
The score for film was written by Jeff Beal of HBO's 'Rome" fame. Tom Petty sings 'Scare Easy' from his CD with his best friends, Mudcrutch in the credits followed by a song sung and written by Ed Harris, 'You'll Never Leave My Heart' Loved the score and it is available on CD.
There is a great deal of action, violence and tension, and we are held spellbound wondering what is coming next. Surprises aplenty! Thus is an actor's fil, a study of characters. This is one of the best westerns I have seen in many years.
Highly Recommended prisrob 01-24-09
China Moon
Eastern Promises (Widescreen Edition)
Movie Review: A distinguished existential Western!
Summary: 5 Stars
"Appaloosa" is a curious Western where the primary plot has to do with the value and significance of the friendship as posthumous homage to a sincere and incorruptible life of a straightforward man - Virgil Cole (Ed Harris), disposed to make the justice prevails no matter how many miles he must to walk to get it.
But through the achievement of his last goal he falls in love with an alluring widow and so after a set of unexpected events the villain of the story becomes a very respectable citizen. But his friend Everett (Viggo Mortensen), has never forgotten the main goal and he will be the executor arm of the natural justice.
The dramatic premise has to do with the thin line between the duty, the moral codes and the ethic. That's why Cole reads Emerson and even discusses with Bragg (Jeremy Irons) ethic issues in a very brief but relevant sequence. Both men are well aware about the holes and fissures of a legal system (including a Presidential blessing who liberates this double moral citizen named Bragg) and every one of them will try to make his mission in the stage of life.
Everett is -if you may- the outlaw personage (no family; no hopes for the recent future) who scrutinizes, watches and nourishes day after day his hidden admiration by Cole. That's why Cole tells him. "The feelings may destroy you and distort your whole perception about the life's role. That's why Everett is not at the same level than Cole."
Ed Harris(after his debut as director with "Pollock")demonstrates outstanding merits at the role of director. A very zealous camera handle with wonderful nocturnal illumination and arresting angles (like the gun duel, the dramatic sequence of the train).
Once more, we are conscious about the Western transcendence simply denies to die because neither more nor less, this is the mythic genre per excellence that wrought the untamed spirit of a nation after the horror of the Civil War.
Truly, a recent Classic Western.