“Appaloosa” wanders a little like the old western trail… it could have held the average audience better with tighter editing

 If you like Westerns, you’ll like this movie more than the average audience… and while its central theme of the friendship between the characters played by Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen will keep you interested, its lingering moments and lengthy shots may have you checking the time until this nearly two-hour long movie wraps up.

 “Appaloosa”

(2008) (rated: R for some violence and language) (1 hr, 54 min)

Starring: Ed Harris, Viggo Mortensen, Jeremy Irons, Renee Zellweger, Timothy V. Murphy, James Gammon, Timothy Spall, Tom Bower, Rex Linn, Lance Henriksen, Luce Rains, James Tarwater

Genre: Western/Drama

The Plot: 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.

MY TAKE (spoiler free):

Please don’t get me wrong… I appreciate great landscapes and cinematography… they are a great device for putting the audience in the setting and reminding them they are still there… but where so many great movies use the device to perfection, it may be “Appaloosa”’s achilles heel.

Of course, I did go into this movie with the knowledge that (more…)

Ed Harris talks to Laff at the Movies about his new movie “Appaloosa”

  CLICK ON THIS TO WATCH

Ed Harris talks to Laff at the Movies about his roles as Producer/Director/Writer/Star of the movie “Appaloosa”, getting the cast of Viggo Mortensen, Renee Zelwegger, and Jeremy Irons to join the project, the risks/rewards of doing a Western, and the new tax incentives bringing movies to Michigan… that he hadn’t heard of… until our interview on October 1st.

(clips from ”Appaloosa” courtesy Warner Bros., clip from “A History of Violence” courtesy New Line Cinema)

enjoy

CHECK OUT my interview with Joe Pantoliano (”Risky Business”, “The Sopranos”, “The Matrix”, “Bad Boys”)

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