Appaloosa
Appaloosa
R | 19 September 2008 (USA)
Appaloosa Trailers

Two friends hired to police a small town that is suffering under the rule of a rancher find their job complicated by the arrival of a young widow.

Reviews
Matcollis This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.
GurlyIamBeach Instant Favorite.
Roy Hart If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.
Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.
Per Johnsen Appaloosa is a classical western in a modern suit. It seems like Ed Harris wanted to show the world that he could make a real good traditional western and that some producers, directors and casters have missed out not giving him the main part in such a movie. And right he did, also asking his favorite actors to join in, and Harris himself is shining. Seems like they had a lot of fun.The main subject in Appaloosa, besides the classical struggle between good and evil, is trust and betrayal in human relations. There are of course good guys and girls and the bad one's, but in this story none of the characters really seem to be either, except for one or two perhaps. So in the end, the only good guy gets to put and end to what ever is wrong or evil. If there's a moral, that's all there is to it.I'm writing this after watching the film for the third time, and I seem to forget how it goes and ends every time. I suppose that makes it quite a good film with a subtle story about love and hate, trust and betrayal.
Dave Nielsen This movie is quite slow, but hey, its a western after all. My favorite part is when the whore tries to split up Viggo Mortensen and Ed Harris' bromance and fails miserably. Also, that 10 gauge shotgun is a metaphor for his dong. The bad dude in the movie is also very well acted. The whole movie you're just begging for revenge on the guy (I won't spoil the ending for you though) The only reason I took off a star is because Renee Zelwigger is freakin weird looking and her character drives me nuts, which makes her numerous spankings (both verbal and physical) from Ed Harris all the more satisfying. Overall a great blend of a traditional western with the building vengeance and methodical pace, mixed with elements of the modern. I give the bromantic part 10/10, 9/10 overall
Wuchak In 2008's "Appaloosa" two itinerate lawmen -- Virgil Cole (Ed Harris) and Everett Hitch (Viggo Mortensen) -- are hired to protect the New Mexican town of Appaloosa from Randall Bragg (Jeremy Irons), a newly-arrived rancher with money and a gang of thugs who arrogantly murdered three local lawmen. Virgil and Everett are seasoned professionals and have no fear. Meanwhile, a cute and seemingly refined widow comes to town, Allison French (Renée Zellweger), and Virgil falls hard for her, but is she worthy of his (or any man's) devotion? Harris and Mortensen were born to play Westerners and Zellweger is exquisite as the insecure babe who always needs to be desired. Moreover, Irons makes for a first-rate Western villain."Appaloosa" is a really good modern Western featuring the typical Western staples, but with great actors, mature themes and a totally realistic tone. When the action comes it's swift and brutal, but there's a lot of slow (albeit interesting) drama, so stay away if you have ADHD and require an explosion every five minutes to maintain your limited attention span.The film runs 115 minutes and was shot in New Mexico.GRADE: A-
Fedorahawk "Appaloosa" is a form of new-wave western that centers on a simple plot but with plenty of twists along the way. The story is simple but the acting is spot on. The connection between Ed and Viggo is unique, their friendship being on of the most enjoyable parts of the film. The setting is basic, but beautiful, and the villain, Jeremy Irons, is spot on (he seems to always play a good villain, except for "Dungeons and Dragons"). There really is no reason to hate this movie, but some aspects of the film lead to some negative opinions. For instance, Renée Zellweger's character was really, really unlikeable (in my opinion). Another is the storyline which seemed to jump from character to character with no sense of time and the love triangle within the story can be irritating to the viewer. This film has its moments and issues but other then that "Appaloosa" is a basic western brought to the younger audience to spark a new interest in the old genre.