Appaloosa is no Lonesome Dove but having said that, it was a good and enjoyable cowboy movie. All westerns have pretty much the same theme. There's a bad guy or guys who run rough shod over the good folks. Then, there's a good guy who, against unbelievable odds, takes on the bad guys. It is good vs evil and as a rule ends in a gunfight and some sort of finality. I LOVE WESTERNS.
Most of the time, there's a woman. In Appaloosa, which was the name of the town, all the elements were there. Both Ed Harris and Viggo Mortenson were perfect for their roles. They remind me of characters in the Ayn Rand novels, "individualism at all costs."
The movie did something that movies rarely do, explore the relationship between men. Mortensen was an articulate former West Pointer and Ed Harris was always out to improve his mind--themes usually not pursued in westerns. With this one and Lonesome Dove, my favorite, to include recent Westerns like Open Range, good dialogue appears to be as important as gun play.
The female played by Renee Zellweger hit the mark, exploring relationships with some of the best dialogue ever. Ed Harris says about Renee on praising her qualities even while recognizing her less than stellar character, "She is clean, takes a bath everyday."
There are way too many nuances in this movie to fully explore, less I give it away. Mortensen understands quickly about Zellweger's philosophy, "If you ain't with the one you love, love the one you're with." She is headed toward choosing a more powerful and rich former bad guy played by Jeremy Irons. Mortensen knows a woman like Zellweger and understands what will happen in the relationship with Harris, his sidekick. For his old friend, Harris, Hitch (Mortensen) performs a final act to secure Virgel Cole's (Ed Harris)) relative happiness.
Good movie, check it out. Two parachutes
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