Appaloosa (2008)

Director:

Ed Harris

Writers (WGA):

Robert Knott (screenplay) &
Ed Harris (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

3 October 2008 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Western

Tagline:

Feelings get you killed.

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.

Plot Keywords:

Rancher | Marshal | New Mexico | Small Town | Sentenced To Death

Awards:

2 wins

US TV Schedule:

Tue. Nov. 24

8:00 PM

MAX

Cast

Ed Harris	...	Virgil Cole
Viggo Mortensen	...	Everett Hitch
Renée Zellweger	...	Allison French
Jeremy Irons	...	Randall Bragg
Timothy Spall	...	Phil Olson
Tom Bower	...	Abner Raines
James Gammon	...	Earl May
Ariadna Gil	...	Katie
Benjamin Rosenshein	...	Town Boy
Cerris Morgan-Moyer	...	Tilda
Timothy V. Murphy	...	Vince
Luce Rains	...	Dean
Erik J. Bockemeier	...	Fat Wallis
James Tarwater	...	Chalk (as Jim Tarwater)
Freddie Hice	...	Bragg's Third Man (as Fred Hice)

Also Known As:

Entre la vida y la muerte (Argentina) (Mexico) [es]
Appaloosa (Croatia) [hr]
Appaloosa (Portugal) [pt]
Appaloosa (Greece) [el]
Appaloosa (Spain) [es]
Appaloosa (Italy) [it]
Appaloosa - Uma Cidade Sem Lei (Brazil) (festival title) [pt]
Kanun benim (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]

MPAA:

Rated R for some violence and language.

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Ireland:15A | Canada:14A (Alberta/Manitoba/Ontario) | UK:15 | Canada:G (Québec) | Canada:PG (British Columbia) | France:U | USA:R (certificate #44389) | Argentina:Atp | Philippines:PG-13 (MTRCB) | Greece:K | Finland:K-13 | Singapore:NC-16 | South Africa:13V | Netherlands:9 | Australia:M | Portugal:M/12 | Singapore:M18 (DVD rating) | Mexico:B

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

Company:

New Line Cinema

Trivia:

Viggo Mortensen and Ariadna Gil play lovers in the film, as they also do in the Spanish film Alatriste (2006).

Goofs:

Continuity: Immediately after Virgil and Everett capture Bragg, they are surrounded by Bragg's men. This all happens at sunrise and they would not have had time to get dressed, saddle their horses and surround them that fast.

Quotes:

[after a shoot-out]
Everett Hitch: That was quick.
Virgil Cole: Yeah, everybody could shoot.

Movie Connections:

Edited into "De wereld draait door: (#4.162)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Scare Easy

Finally, a western by people who understand real conflict

I suppose this film is as vulnerable to deep analysis as the next one, but, why bother? This is entertainment the way I like it, straight up without a lot of foolish over the top action. The real west must have been fraught with similar dilemmas as that confronting the town of Appaloosa: What to do with a lawless band of men determined to live as they please by preying on timid town dwellers? I doubt there were many men like Virgil Cole or his partner Everett Hitch in the real west having lived among their great, great grandchildren (I've no idea what the real genealogy is) for a time, but men have often tried to live like they do with the result that they lived undeservedly short lives. Still, guys like me can't get enough of their stories and Ed Harris apparently feels the same way. Only Clint Eastwood in my memory has attempted to tap into this same wellspring of folklore as in The Unforgiven. Though we all love Clint, I'd have to say Ed outdoes him here. He's got a wonderful sense of what a real gunfight might have been like. And though he's trimmed off the cries of pain and the gore, it still has the ring of truth.