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Ed Harris' labor of love is a welcome return to the classics westerns of yore
Cowpokes:
Appaloosa
10-3-08 "Knight Thoughts" web exclusive review
By Richard Knight, Jr.
Appaloosa
10-3-08 "Knight Thoughts" web exclusive review
By Richard Knight, Jr.
Apparently I'm not the only one yearning for good old fashioned movies - not that I have any problem with the most adventuresome
fare when it comes to film. But (and it's a noticeable one)...when the professional critic duties are momentarily put aside and I find
myself settling in with a movie, nine times out of ten I opt for one with an entertaining story, great performances, gorgeous
cinematography and exquisite production values, and a memorable music score, all key elements in old fashioned pictures. Not all
of these qualities are present in Ed Harris' labor of love, Appaloosa but there are enough of these elements to make it worth the
trip to the cineplex. Harris has obviously worked very hard to get his baby just right. He co-wrote, produced, directed, stars,
composed a song for, and perhaps rustled up the chow for the crew lunch on Appaloosa and his painstaking care shows.
The movie follows Harris and co-star Viggo Mortensen as Virgil and Everett, two guns for hire who arrive in Appaloosa, a small town in
Arizona territory that is being tyrannized by a brutal land baron (Jeremy Irons). Virgil and Everett have been at their work a long
time and have the same easy going camaraderie of Tommy Lee Jones and Robert Duvall in Lonesome Dove and John Wayne and
Robert Mitchum in El Dorado. But a comely widow (Renee Zellwegger) enters their lives and Harris becomes smitten. At this point a
bizarre twist enters the movie, which has up to that point focused on ridding the town of the land baron and his stereotypically coarse
band of rowdies. The twist is that Zellwegger is a literal incarnation of Ado Annie in Oklahoma, she really is the Girl Who Can't Say No
and this odd little behavior tic, not seen in any western I can recall, throws an at times comedic, at times odd wrench into what has
been a modern example of latter day Henry Hathaway. Here we have a female character that is neither madonna nor whore and the
twist doesn't completely work and the movie loses its footing for a bit as it struggles to interject some complexity into an otherwise
old fashioned movie. Zellwegger is not my favorite performer (though I think her work in Miss Potter, which was sadly overlooked by
audiences, completely played into her rather unusual talents). And here she is winning and does what she can with the character's
abrupt changes.
Zellwegger's character aside, everything else about Appaloosa - from its gorgeous widescreen outdoor compositions to the familiar,
delightful interplay between Harris and Mortensen, and the violent confrontations between the duo and baddie Irons - comes right on
cue. But the familiarity is satisfying rather than stultifying (as it is in another movie being released this week, Flash of Genius, which
follows the standard David vs. Goliath story for its template). The movie doesn't have the magnetic performances of Russell Crowe
and Christian Bale in 3:10 to Yuma or its psychological forcefulness but to suggest that this is the perfect movie to watch with your dad
is certainly high praise indeed.
fare when it comes to film. But (and it's a noticeable one)...when the professional critic duties are momentarily put aside and I find
myself settling in with a movie, nine times out of ten I opt for one with an entertaining story, great performances, gorgeous
cinematography and exquisite production values, and a memorable music score, all key elements in old fashioned pictures. Not all
of these qualities are present in Ed Harris' labor of love, Appaloosa but there are enough of these elements to make it worth the
trip to the cineplex. Harris has obviously worked very hard to get his baby just right. He co-wrote, produced, directed, stars,
composed a song for, and perhaps rustled up the chow for the crew lunch on Appaloosa and his painstaking care shows.
The movie follows Harris and co-star Viggo Mortensen as Virgil and Everett, two guns for hire who arrive in Appaloosa, a small town in
Arizona territory that is being tyrannized by a brutal land baron (Jeremy Irons). Virgil and Everett have been at their work a long
time and have the same easy going camaraderie of Tommy Lee Jones and Robert Duvall in Lonesome Dove and John Wayne and
Robert Mitchum in El Dorado. But a comely widow (Renee Zellwegger) enters their lives and Harris becomes smitten. At this point a
bizarre twist enters the movie, which has up to that point focused on ridding the town of the land baron and his stereotypically coarse
band of rowdies. The twist is that Zellwegger is a literal incarnation of Ado Annie in Oklahoma, she really is the Girl Who Can't Say No
and this odd little behavior tic, not seen in any western I can recall, throws an at times comedic, at times odd wrench into what has
been a modern example of latter day Henry Hathaway. Here we have a female character that is neither madonna nor whore and the
twist doesn't completely work and the movie loses its footing for a bit as it struggles to interject some complexity into an otherwise
old fashioned movie. Zellwegger is not my favorite performer (though I think her work in Miss Potter, which was sadly overlooked by
audiences, completely played into her rather unusual talents). And here she is winning and does what she can with the character's
abrupt changes.
Zellwegger's character aside, everything else about Appaloosa - from its gorgeous widescreen outdoor compositions to the familiar,
delightful interplay between Harris and Mortensen, and the violent confrontations between the duo and baddie Irons - comes right on
cue. But the familiarity is satisfying rather than stultifying (as it is in another movie being released this week, Flash of Genius, which
follows the standard David vs. Goliath story for its template). The movie doesn't have the magnetic performances of Russell Crowe
and Christian Bale in 3:10 to Yuma or its psychological forcefulness but to suggest that this is the perfect movie to watch with your dad
is certainly high praise indeed.
