Review of Appaloosa (2008) by Carson Y — 20 Dec 2009

There's a lot of Appaloosa I liked. Most prominently, the relationship between Viggo Mortensen's and Ed Harris's characters feels very genuine: these two men have known each other for a long time, and need to say very little. They're a bit sarcastic with each other, but not really playing for humor. It's hard to portray deep, total trust in film, and these two do it. I liked that the threat of action often takes precedence over the action itself, and that when there is action, it happens very fast, without much preamble, and without much grandure.

But the film is overly long, and complex characters become muddled characters. And the casting of Renee Zellweger is a mistake: there's not a moment in this film she doesn't look out of place.