Movie Night: Appaloosa

Shown in the Sandy Shoes home theater last night: Appaloosa.



I don't usually dig Westerns, but did mostly like this one. Ed Harris (who also directs) and Viggo Mortensen star as Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch, two hired guns who sign on to police a small New Mexico town being terrorized by a powerful rancher (Jeremy Irons) and his men. Enter Renee Zellweger (can someone please tell me what's appealing about her? Is it the piggy little eyes? The faux whisper?) as a widow of uncertain motives, and things get complicated.

Good: pace, performances, dialogue, overall cool factor.

Bad: I just don't love Renee Zellweger as much as most people do. That aside, her character is problematic... not because she complicates things, but because there's a "this would all be going fine if it weren't for the dang woman" flavor to the whole thing, which is a cheap, cheesy cop-out of a plot device.

I haven't made up my mind about Viggo Mortensen. History of Violence (also Mortensen and Harris) was sooo bad, and his performance in this wasn't much different; just, the Everett Hitch character was perfectly suited to it. I can't remember seeing him in much else; Hidalgo didn't make any impression whatsoever, and I never saw the Lord of the Rings movies.

Anyway, Appaloosa is worth seeing. For those keeping track at home, Mr. Sandyshoes liked it too :).