Review of Appaloosa (2008) by Peter G — 15 Jun 2009

Well, this was a completely uneven film. While I do have a lot that irked me and kind of pissed me off, I did enjoy this film for what it is, A Buddy Cop Western movie.

The first problem with this film is the pacing. While I know that Westerns have always had an elongated structure, this movie never really did much with it's extended run time. There was a plot about capturing a murderer, but then the movie goes into a love story by introducing a tramp (who is played by Renee Zellweger none the less).

The acting is very solid, despite the fact that most of the tones of people's voices are in gruff and rough monotone growling (not at some Christian Bale kind of level, though). Ed Harris (pulling double duty as director) gives a very stern and wise performance and his random character ticks are funny (like trying to boost his vocabulary and never quite getting the words correct). Viggo plays almost the same part, but is the inferior officer to Harris. His character has a lot of funny interactions between Harris. Jeremy Irons is very good as the villain, even if his plot gets swept under the rug.

Where this casting gets awkward is with Zellweger. While she doesn't sink the movie, her role is more obnoxious and useless when compared to what should be going on (capturing a damn criminal). Her face never really captures what emotions she should be conveying and her importance to the main characters just doesn't come off properly.

Another thing that isn't proper in the film is the musical score. When it first started, I thought I was watching an Asian movie. There is absolutely no reason why I should be thinking of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon when I'm watching a Western. Not only does the musical score not make sense for most of the scenes it gets used in, but when the composers decide to actually make something that resembles old Western themes, they do it so half-assed that you just don't care.

The direction is competent, if nothing else. Ed Harris probably should have stuck to just acting, but he doesn't shake the camera or anything idiotic like most modern film making. His cinematography is very good and showcases some of the great old West (or present West, whatever the hell you want to call it). There are a few stray shots that just have nothing in common with how the rest of the movie goes, but I guess Harris just felt the need to spruce up a few moments.

The action sequences are few and over rather quickly and they really don't add much to the film. I know the characters are lawmen and this is filmed in an old fashioned style, but without the story taking hold like it should, the action being so fast is just disappointing (3:10 to Yuma had the immense build-up to that 5 minute shoot out at the end, why not this?). At least Harris and Mortensen look compelling holding rifles and pistols.

For all these complaints, though, Appaloosa becomes watchable simply because of how well Viggo and Harris respond to each other. Their characters were written so well that the actors truly get their nuances and personalities projected on the screen. It is a shame that the plot tries to rely so much on the love story, because if Appaloosa had stuck with the crime part, this could have been a real winner.