I was excited to see four great actors together in this western. Unfortunately “Appaloosa” suffers from a screenplay that was not fully realized. The movie is directed and co-written by Ed Harris, who also stars in the film. The leading actors, Harris, Mortensen, Zellweger and Irons are very good actors and solid in their roles as you would expect. Zellweger is one of my favorite actresses and in this movie plays a flawed woman, an unlikeable character she normally would not get cast as which is refreshing to see. As good as the actors were I thought the story didn’t give the actors enough to build the characters from and the plot needed to be expanded.

Harris captures the gritty feel and style of the old west and he does a good job of direction although there were a few moments of slow pacing which could have been picked up a bit. The lighting and sets are really wonderful and the costumes very appealing. There were a few costume pieces here and there that didn’t come off as authentic to the time period, although I may be mistaken. Harris obviously put his heart and soul into the movie and it shows. I wanted to like this film more than I did but I did enjoy it. The characters were interesting, particularly Mortensen’s character. I finished the movie wanting more from the story than was told and to know more about the characters, particularly Harris’s character and the relationship between Harris and Mortensen’s characters. This points to a lack in the screenplay, not the acting of the actors.

As far as westerns go this is an enjoyable one and has a great feel for the old west. There is some action in this movie but this is more of a character study than action western film. If you like westerns you will appreciate this movie.

2008. Directed by Ed Harris. Starring Ed Harris, Viggo Mortensen, Renee Zellweger and Jeremy Irons.

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