The Western is something that has only occasionally been tackled by Hollywood of late. When it has been however, some great works of cinema have been produced. Adhering in various degrees to the sub-genre of the modern or revisionist Western, there have been released some highly distinctive, dark and wonderful masterpieces; The Proposition, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, There Will Be Blood, No Country For Old Men and the 3:10 to Yuma remake to name a few.
The revisionist Western is a genre that favours realism over the romanticism of many older, traditional Westerns, updating the genre in the same way that many franchises (such as Batman and James Bond) are doing today and altogether delivering far darker, more realistic and arguably better films than their predecessors. This is not a new thing; the revisionist genre dates back even to the early 50s and can be applied to such classic Westerns as The Magnificent Seven, The Wild Bunch and The Unforgiven. One could argue that the forming of this sub-genre was an essential and highly necessary step that the Western had to take after its ‘golden age’ in order for it to survive successfully in modern cinema.
To deviate from that genre today then could either be looked upon as a very foolish and unnecessary foray into old territory, or perhaps a brave trend-breaking effort. Ed Harris’ Western effort Appaloosa does not apply to the revisionist genre at all. Visually it looks the part, but in story this is very much an old-school Western, more paying tribute to the John Ford style of Westerns than attempting the revisionist approach. I believe this is the foundation of its downfall (upon which many other flaws are laid) for it is trying to reproduce a type of film that cinema has wholly exhausted and moved on from.
Based on the novel of the same name by Robert B. Parker, Appaloosa is actor Ed Harris’ (The Truman Show, A History of Violence, Gone Baby Gone) second directorial outing after his 2000 debut Pollock. Also co-starring alongside Viggo Mortensen and having co-written the script, this is very much Ed Harris’ film.
The story concerns two lawmen, Virgil Cole (Harris) and Everett Hitch (Mortensen) getting hired by elders to take back their town from villain Randall Bragg (Jeremy Irons) and his men. The matter turns more complicated with the arrival of Alison French (Renee Zellwegger) who attempts to come between the lawmen. This is a story obviously very heavily influenced by the tale of Wyatt Earp; with Cole representing Wyatt Earp and Hitch representing Doc Holiday. The characters are so sparsely pruned in fact that it is hard to see this as anything other than a direct rip-off of the classic tale.
With an excellent cast, it is a film of great performances placed among a flawed and uninteresting plot. The three male roles in this film are all considered great actors in Hollywood at the moment and here they do an excellent job as usual. Renee Zellwegger gives a highly convincing performance as the fickle widow who will attach herself to whichever man holds the biggest gun. These performances alone though are unfortunately not enough to save the film.
Humour within in the film is certainly one of its biggest problems. We are constantly bombarded with lame quips, most often from Harris, which leave you confused regarding the seriousness of the piece. It is quite a contradictory film in this regard; from the offset we are presented with a hard visual exterior, leading us to believe it will be a film serious in tone (if fanciful and romanticised), yet to fill the gaps in a struggling plot we are dealt small doses of humour throughout (even in the most serious of instances) which ultimately ruin the tone and prevent any suspense from building.
A second thing seriously hampering the character of Virgil Cole is his constant struggle with vocabulary, causing him every ten minutes to shamefully look towards Everett and ask ‘What word am I looking for?’ Is he significantly under-educated? Does he merely have an atrocious memory? The matter is never cleared up. All this suffices to do is make our hero look like an idiot. Would we ever see Kurt Russell or Kevin Costner’s Wyatt Earp shamefully begging Doc Holiday to finish his sentence for him? Certainly not.
One thing expected of most westerns, regardless of sub-genre, is a significant and entertaining gun fight/showdown towards the end of the film. In this the film also disappoints. The showdown lacks in tension or a suspenseful build-up, much like the rest of the film, and is over far too quickly, giving more time instead to the cheesy and unbelievable final scene concerning the two friend’s apparently unshakable friendship.
If you want to watch a tale of lawmen restoring order to a town harassed by villains watch one of the Wyatt Earp classics; either the fantastic Tombstone, or its slightly lesser companion Wyatt Earp. If you want to see an excellent, dark and original Western of late watch one of the many masterful revisionist Westerns spawned in recent years. If you want to watch a romanticist Western then you would be far better off watching a classic of old. There is simply no place for this film today. In a time when the Western is just starting to get its foothold back in cinema and regain some recognition, it is flawed and confused pieces like this that do not help its cause.
2/5
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