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In recent years there has been a steady trickle of westerns - mostly made because they still hold an allure for filmmakers and actors, if not mass audiences - and the majority of them have attempted to do something different with the genre. The generally well-received The Assassination of Jesse James was a very meditative and introspective look at a famous figure, while 3:10 to Yuma brought modern-style action scenes and CGI to the old west for the first time. Appaloosa, on the other hand, is completely the opposite: it is as traditional a western as you are likely to find in this day and age (there are even hostile "injuns"), but that is no bad thing. The plot is the tried and tested routine of two mercenaries being hired by the residents of a town, Appaloosa, whose marshall has been murdered by the villainous Randall Bragg (Jeremy Irons, who talks with a very odd accent here), the head of a posse of lawless bandits.
Although hardly an original premise, director Ed Harris (returning behind the camera eight years after his directorial debut, Pollock) handles the plot and setting of Appaloosa with great confidence and assuredness. The pacing is stately but well judged, as the film is driven by the relationships between its characters, particularly the hired guns, played by Harris himself and Viggo Mortensen, who last appeared in a film together in Cronenberg's A History of Violence. Both men seem completely at home in the western environment and share a natural and frequently amusing repartee. Mortensen in particular is quietly magnetic, giving his character layers of depth with the smallest gestures and facial expressions (his acting talents have been underutilised in his career, and thankfully his part in The Lord of the Rings, in which he was one of the picks of an excellent ensemble, has given him some more exposure). The third major character arrives in Appaloosa by train towards the end of the first act: Mrs. Allison French, played by the squinting and pouting Renee Zellweger. It's the dynamic between this central trio that gives the film some of its own character. Allison actually turns out to be a surprisingly interesting part and Zellweger pulls it off satisfyingly.
Some may find the film rather too slow, but those who relish a good western will certainly find one here. There's a constant sense of forward movement as the relationships build and evolve, and later on the story offers some interesting twists and turns. The cinematography is of a high, although not spectacular, quality, and combined with the authentic weather-beaten sets, Appaloosa manages to conceal a fairly low budget. The handful of action scenes are brief and intense, which simply adds to the realism (how long would a gunfight really last if everyone involved was a decent shot?). It also helps that there is a great cast assembled, even in the smaller roles, most notably Timothy Spall and Lance Henriksen. With a cast as good as this, with even the occasionally erratic Zellweger performing well, it's in the character-based scenes where the film comes alive.
The summary
The occasional little gem like Appaloosa is precisely the reason that a sizable minority of fans still await every new western with some anticipation.
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