Saw 'Appaloosa'.....

[FAST FRED]

.... and greatly enjoyed it.

The Link

I rented this movie from NETFLIX and thought it had a good story, interesting characters, great western sets and scenery, good actors well-cast, believable action and good pace.

I thought it was fine movie making when I first viewed it.

Then I watched it again, listening to Ed Harris' commentary about what he was trying to do and show as the writer, director and lead actor and saw the deleted scenes and heard why he deleted them, and I became even further convinced that he, his cast and crew made a very good Western movie.

The characters are nuanced and believable and I think it compares well, at least at some times, with such as "Open Range," "Unforgiven," "Dances with Wolves," "The Outlaw Josey Wales," "Shane", "The 3:10 to Yuma," John Ford's great films, any of the OK Corral flicks and other oaters which are often remembered and mentioned when folks list their favorites from that genre.

You might not rate it so high as all that, but I'll predict most fans of those movies should enjoy this one.

I think it's worth a rental, if you missed it in theaters as I did.

Ed Harris plays a strong, flawed anti-hero; Viggo Mortensen, who narrates, is more intelligent and socially adept, but steadfastly supports Harris; Renee Zellweger is very believable as a rather plain looking widow whose ability to make use of any situation to survive and thrive is her most striking feature; and Jeremy Irons, in his first Western role, plays a delicious villain.

It's a little like "Deadwood," but the scenes are less cluttered with wh*res, c*cksuckers, Chinamen, gold miners and iambic pentameter.

Still, the script is quite literate without as much speechifying or using multiple curse words in compound/complex sentences.

I was pleasantly reminded of "High Noon," "My Darling Clementine," "One-Eyed Jacks" and "The Big Country," seeing well-drawn, multi-layered characters in an excellent Western screenplay.

And I thought the storyline bore favorable comparison to "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance," but this flick makes more and better use of outdoor Western scenery.

Plus, the vocal and unspoken interplay between Harris' and Mortensen's characters made me fondly recall Henry Fonda and Jimmy Stewart interacting in "The Cheyenne Social Club."

"The men were believable and the women were believable too" was a comment from my wife.

She liked it also.

This movie set up, played and unfolded nicely for my tastes and sensibilities as a longtime fan of the genre.

I thought it was a very good film and an even better Western.

It reminded me of a more realistic "Gunsmoke," wherein the drama was heightened because you aren't sure all the main characters, who've earned your interest, are always gonna live to appear in next week's episode.

 

[Hornius Emeritus]

I saw it after seeing it recommended here and just thought the plot was so full of holes as to be way beyond believability.

Also, I didn't buy into the Harris/Zellwegger romance whatsoever.

 

[Third Coast]

Worth a rental, but I felt the plot was contrived and the acting superficial. Comparable to Open Range perhaps, but nowhere near Unforgiven in my opinion.

 

[youknow]

If Harris would have shot Rene in her first scene, the movie would have gotten five stars.

Maybe, we weren't supposed to like her, but I wished they would have casted someone else. As soon as Harris character became pu**y whipped, I lost interest.

Also, I wish they would have dug deeper into Irons charater.

 

[FAST FRED]

She's not one of my favorite actresses either, but I thought she was well-cast and good in this role as it was evidently envisioned.

Different strokes.

A lot of actresses could have played her as a more attractive or even a scheming, evil person.

I just thought dumpy, plain featured, but well dressed, giggly, flirtatious, self-centered, opportunistic, survivor Renee Zellweger did OK playing the cards she'd been dealt in this role, finding a measure of sexual success and some personal good fortune in the limited arena of a dusty town like Appaloosa.

Many other actresses would have been too sexy or good looking to be stuck there unless they wore unflattering makeup.

Renee was realistic and convincing to me as a well-used user, getting past her prime, making the best of situations, targeting the local alpha male no matter how often that switched around or how flawed or even whom that man was.

She's strong, skilled and self-reliant, but realizes she's stronger and safer with a man.

She's something like poor little Buttercup in Gilbert and Sullivan's "H. M. S. Pinafore," hanging around the harbor docks, and about in the range of limited pulchritude that most of the women trying to make do in the American West that I've seen in portraits were.

Etta Place was an exception; Calamity Jane and the fallen women of "Deadwood" and in "Unforgiven," were more the rule.

I found a whole lot to enjoy in "Appaloosa," but it doesn't surprise me at all that others didn't appreciate the casting of Renee Zellweger.

I waited on the rental largely because she was in it, myself.

Another actress playing it a different way would have been possible.

I thought she was OK playing it in the way she did.

Renee's character in this flick, Miss Kitty from "Gunsmoke" and even Bonnie Parker seem to have had many of the same strengths and character flaws to me: survivability, sufficient good looks, necessary skills, fancy dresser, able to hold their own with men, smart and decisive, good listener, not much of a homebody, but at home around liquor and bars and always attracted to the most important man available.

They're like Stepford Wives from Heaven or Hell, depending on your needs or point of view.

Miss Kitty, the slashed up wh*re in "Unforgiven," the widow living in the hotel in "Deadwood," Katherine Ross as Etta Place and Willie Boy's woman, the starving ladies at the Donner Pass and all the women who populated the American West did what they had to do with what they had to use.

Or, to put it in a thespian way, they all played their female roles, as the varying scripts or the character interpretation required, using their individual acting skills.

So, I can't fault Renee for that, but she's still no favorite of mine.

She sure did p*ssywhip Ed Harris though.

 

[TXHorn]

Terrible terrible movie