The western genre is a tricky one for feature films nowadays. They used to be a dime a dozen, but it seems they went out of style for good after Clint Eastwood made the superb Unforgiven in 1992 and has yet to return to the genre. Kevin Costner made the stinker of a film in Wyatt Earp in 1994 but then redeemed himself in 2003 with the under-appreciated and under seen Open Range. Even those that want to point to Tombstone have to remember it was released in 1993 and another great western in The Proposition has been virtually ignored. Hell, despite being set in space Serenity was a fantastic western in 2005 and spaceships couldn’t even get audiences into the seats. Nope, to make a western is to be all alone on the range with a camera, some dirt and hopefully a story compelling enough to make your money back on home video. Appaloosa is just that film and I was happy to see when I turned on my PlayStation 3 to look at the most rented/watched movies in the PlayStation store and found this title at the top of the list. I guess people want to see this kind of a movie, just not in the theaters. Then again, with New Line only giving it 1,290 theaters in its widest release it’s not hard to figure out why it only earned just over $20 million at the box-office.
Directed by Ed Harris, Appaloosa is not your typical shoot ’em up kind of western, but it is a western where at the very least the threat of violence is carried in damn near every word. Centering on two traveling friends, Virgil (Ed Harris) and Everett (Viggo Mortensen), the film centers on these two as they are hired in the town of Appaloosa to serve as peacekeepers from the threat of Randall Bragg (Jeremy Irons). The arrival of Allison French (Renee Zellweger) throws an additional wrench in the works as they try to send Bragg off to be hanged.
Throughout the film guns are seen, but they are rarely heard. The conversations between Virgil and Everett are more intriguing than any traditional gun fight could possibly serve and the few moments where violence is seen on screen are more than enough to give any threats of any additional bloodshed their due weight.
Harris and Mortensen slide easily into their roles and while Zellweger is an actress I am having a harder time looking at on screen I think she too is well suited for the conniving part she plays in the story. Irons is the one I originally had a small problem with as his noticeable accent was hard for him to conceal and occasionally it slips through. It was a mild complaint when I saw this film in the theater and after a second viewing it is something I couldn’t care less about now.
As far as special features go there is an audio commentary with Ed Harris and about midway through he is joined by screenwriter/producer Robert Knott. Harris is a man of few words, but I enjoyed his commentary as he talks a lot about what was left out and why as well as points out several things in the background of many of the shots that I had not initially noticed from a man sweeping a porch to a cemetery in the distance. It may sound boring to some, but it is a particular attention to detail I can appreciate. Harris also talks about how the film had been cut down considerably and if there were to be an extended cut it would be around two hours and 45 minutes. There are a few deleted scenes with optional commentary, but nothing reaching that length and I am quite satisfied with the film as it is and not sure I would be too interested in seeing a film almost an hour longer. On top of that there are four featurettes that go into the making of the film, nothing too special, but they are there if you are interested.
In terms of the picture and audio, this is a film you will want to see in high definition if given the chance. It is dusty and it is dirty, but it is beautiful. The shot including the cemetery I mentioned above is absolutely perfect and the wide landscapes and 2.4:1 aspect ratio make use of it all. The audio offered is a Dolby TrueHD as Warner still hasn’t gone the way of Universal and adopted DTS audio for all of its releases, but it will do until they wise up.
If you are a fan of westerns and don’t mind a slow moving film about friendship with a dedication to character building and dialogue then I certainly recommend you give Appaloosa a chance.
