Appaloosa
starring Ed Harris, Viggo Mortensen, Renee Zellwegger, Jeremy Irons, James Gammon and Timothy Spall
written by Robert Knott and Ed Harris
directed by Ed Harris
Rating: ♦♦♦♦◊
I liked this. I like realistic looking westerns, not Howdy Doody 1950s western kitsch. So it was nice to look at, the characters were simultaneously complicated and interesting, and the story was pretty good, too. Jeremy Irons’ voice makes him a chore to get used to, but he is a fine actor and, of course, Ed Harris is one of my favorite actors.
In the post Civil War year two veterans - Virgil Cole (Harris) and Everett Hitch (Mortensen) - make a living as temporary, hired lawmen in the American west. Mercenaries. Gun fighters. But they’re the good guys. They are hired by the leading citizens of a small town as protection from a vicious, local cattle baron rancher (Jeremy Irons) with political connections. But their work and their personal relationship are compromised by the arrival of an attractive single woman - something conspicuous on the frontier, I guess. She is not what she seems and turns out to be a hustler looking out for herself by playing one man against another. Will a love triangle ensue? Will Cole and Hitch break up and go their separate ways over a woman?
Timothy Spall is an interesting character actor. I have seen him in small parts in so many movies now, and I have always enjoyed him.