A western for grown-ups.It's not about the guns, horses or bullets. It's about friendship, sex and, ultimately, love.
Added 11/21/2009
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.
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A Serious and Likable Western in Blu-ray
Added 11/21/2009
Appaloosa is a serious western with excellent acting and enough gunfighting and tension to keep you interested. Rancher Randall Bragg (Jeremy Irons) murders a marshal and deputies who came to arrest killers among his men. The town hires contract marshal Virgil Cole (Ed Harris) and his loyal shotgun-toting partner Everett Hitch (Viggo Mortensen) to make things right. Widow Renne Zellweger is the recently arrived widow who takes to Harris who reluctantly accepts her flirting and infidelity. I'm not really a fan of Zellweger who tends to play somewhat odd character roles, but she does a worthy job here opposite Harris as a lonely, vulnerable woman desperate for a permanent relationship in the vicious, hard, cruel west. Appaloosa does not have as much gun action as 3:10 to Yuma, but it does have enough character study without the silliness that exists in many westerns, and that is one of it's strengths.
The blu-ray transfer was fine and I appreciated the Special Features section as actor/director Harris and others in the cast discuss making the film and their efforts at recreating the 1880's costumes and sets. Also interesting are the tracks "Scare Easy" by Tom Petty and Mudcrutch, and "You'll Never Leave My Heart" co-written and sung by Harris, that play as the end credits roll.
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a somewhat flawed western
Added 11/8/2009
In this movie Virgil Cole is a lawman for hire
with his companion , Everett Hitch,who carries an 8 gage shotgun.
They are hired to pacify the town of Appaloosa.
The rich influential Bragg has killed the previous Marshal and his deputies.
When a widow woman enters the picture, things get more complex.
A witness comes forward and Bragg is arrested and tried, but escapes
twice on the way to trial
and finally is pardoned by his friend President Chester A. Arthur.
In Appaloosa things go from bad to worse until a strange conclusion.
This acting is good, but the plot is just kind of basic.
The characterizations are kind of one dimensional, so that
the macho sort of drowns out the feelings that you probably should have for them?
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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Bad movie with good gunfight scenes
Added 10/22/2009
This movie was a disappointment. Ed Harris was not a very good cowboy which was a surprise to me because I usually like his work. Maybe it was his lack of tough guy facial hair or maybe my real problem came down to the character he was playing who had a weakness when it came to women which made him seem weak overall. Viggo did well in his role, but I think both actors were hampered by the story which was a poorly recycled version of High Plains Drifter. Renee Zelweeger was also very annoying. On a positive note, Appaloosa did have realistic gunfight scenes that reminded me of "Open Range."
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Super Great Movie! A Must See For Everyone!
Added 10/14/2009
There are already several reviews about the storyline and the movie itself, so all I will say is that we saw this movie on HBO and enjoyed it so much, that we immediately bought it on DVD as a gift for my daddy.
And the Amazon merchant we bought it from had a great price, great value, and super fast shipping. It arrived as promised and as expected.
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A western for grown-ups.It's not about the guns, horses or bullets. It's about friendship, sex and, ultimately, love.
Added 11/21/2009
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.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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A Serious and Likable Western in Blu-ray
Added 11/21/2009
Appaloosa is a serious western with excellent acting and enough gunfighting and tension to keep you interested. Rancher Randall Bragg (Jeremy Irons) murders a marshal and deputies who came to arrest killers among his men. The town hires contract marshal Virgil Cole (Ed Harris) and his loyal shotgun-toting partner Everett Hitch (Viggo Mortensen) to make things right. Widow Renne Zellweger is the recently arrived widow who takes to Harris who reluctantly accepts her flirting and infidelity. I'm not really a fan of Zellweger who tends to play somewhat odd character roles, but she does a worthy job here opposite Harris as a lonely, vulnerable woman desperate for a permanent relationship in the vicious, hard, cruel west. Appaloosa does not have as much gun action as 3:10 to Yuma, but it does have enough character study without the silliness that exists in many westerns, and that is one of it's strengths.
The blu-ray transfer was fine and I appreciated the Special Features section as actor/director Harris and others in the cast discuss making the film and their efforts at recreating the 1880's costumes and sets. Also interesting are the tracks "Scare Easy" by Tom Petty and Mudcrutch, and "You'll Never Leave My Heart" co-written and sung by Harris, that play as the end credits roll.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
a somewhat flawed western
Added 11/8/2009
In this movie Virgil Cole is a lawman for hire
with his companion , Everett Hitch,who carries an 8 gage shotgun.
They are hired to pacify the town of Appaloosa.
The rich influential Bragg has killed the previous Marshal and his deputies.
When a widow woman enters the picture, things get more complex.
A witness comes forward and Bragg is arrested and tried, but escapes
twice on the way to trial
and finally is pardoned by his friend President Chester A. Arthur.
In Appaloosa things go from bad to worse until a strange conclusion.
This acting is good, but the plot is just kind of basic.
The characterizations are kind of one dimensional, so that
the macho sort of drowns out the feelings that you probably should have for them?
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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