I snuck off today, with the boys, to see Appaloosa. Friday afternoon, my last one here in Augusta, and we went to see a Western. On opening day. At a matinee. Just awesome.
And, it turns out, we made a wise choice on the movie. Appaloosa is very good. 7, on a scale of 10.
Some comments on the experience first, and then about the movie itself.
Friday afternoon, in Augusta, Georgia, to see a Western. Lots of people in the theater. I can say that — I’ve seen maybe 10 matinees at this same theater, a lot of them on or just after opening day (today was opening day for Appaloosa).
Lots of, um, older patrons. Lots, as in most. I may well have been the youngest guy there. Which was strange.
Lots of couples.
And lots of talking to the screen.
It was a very different group. It was actually kind of a nice treat.
So, the movie. It’s a western. I think I said that. Ed Harris (The Rock, Apollo 13, The Right Stuff, The Abyss, and a lot of others I can’t name off of the top of my head) and Viggo Mortensen (the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Hidalgo, and other stuff) play long-time partners in law, who more or less serve as hired guns on the good side. Think Seven Samurai.
And no, this isn’t Brokeback Mountain. But I bet it’s only a little bit until Brokeback Appaloosa shows up on YouTube (it hasn’t — yet).
The roll into Appaloosa after hearing the call. Bragg, the local thug, lives outside of town, and he and his men are, more or less, parasites on the town. And heavy handed ones at that. The last town marshall tried to go out and arrest two of Bragg’s hired hands, only to have Bragg kill him and his two deputies. The town needs help.
Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch (Harris and Mortensen) agree to clean things up, but only if given absolute power. Neat angle, for a western. It becomes their town, and what they say, goes. They may down new law, to include the basics like “no weapons in town, besides ours.”
Before long, a ranch hand comes forward, and tells the law about the killings. And he agrees to testify. Cole and Hitch ride out and arrest Bragg, and even manage to hold him until trial. Bragg is convicted, and Cole and Hitch load him up on the 3:10 to Puma so he can be hung (3:10 to Puma will make sense after you see it).
What goes wrong? What else — a woman. She ruins everything.
Ren?e Zellweger (Jerry Maguire, Bridget Jones, and the ever popular Me, Myself & Irene) plays Allie French, a widow who had rolled into town with no money, no plans, and a thing for men of power. And she’d set her sights on the city marshall. Who never knew what was coming.
Allie is an interesting character. Her fears seem to drive her. Widowed, she has nothing, and no prospects other than landing a man who will take care of her and provide for her. So, when things look bad for Cole, she latches onto someone else. Realistic, too, I suppose. She’s not a whole – she’s just loose.
In the end, it boils down to Cole needing to decide between settling down to a life with her, or going on with his life as a law gun for hire. Friend, or potentially-psycho-girlfriend.
Good movie. Worth seeing. Worth seeing in the theater. Yes, it’d be fine to wait and see this on DVD, if you have a good TV and good sound. See it, and then decide on buying the DVD. I bet some of you will.
