Appaloosa

Ed Harris

United States

Synopsis

Two friends hired to police a small town that is suffering under the rule of a rancher find their job complicated by the arrival of a young widow.

REVIEW

"Appaloosa" is centered around lawman Virgil Cole (Ed Harris) and his deputy Everett Hitch (Viggo Mortensen), two friends who are hired to defend a lawless 1880s town from Randall Bragg, a murderous rancher (Jeremy Irons). Their efforts are disrupted and friendship tested by the arrival of a woman (Renee Zellweger).

Bragg believes himself to be above the law, a stance that's forever cemented when he guns down the town marshall and two deputies in cold blood. Horrified, the defenseless townspeople pray for the day a savior will arrive in town to free them from Bragg's suffocating grasp. Soon after, Virgil and Everett stride into town atop two mighty steeds, their confident presence signaling the beginning of a new era if the locals will only grant Virgil the complete power he needs to bring Bragg to justice. After pinning on his new marshall's badge, Virgil appoints Everett his deputy and ushers in an era of uneasy peace. Later, when the local stagecoach arrive in town, a woman named Allie (Zellweger) catches Virgil's eye, prompting a die-hard renegade to consider a calm life of domestication. As Virgil's feelings for Allie grow, both begin to wonder if a life together is truly in the cards. Meanwhile, a temporarily subdued Bragg begins to display signs that he may not be finished with this town just yet.

"Appaloosa" constructs and then deconstructs the codes of the Western, generating an offer of a new take on the genre's mythology.