Appaloosa (2008)

Appaloosa is a western directed by and starring Ed Harris. Virgil Cole (Ed Harris) and Everett Hitch (Viggo Mortensen) are best friends in the old west. They are lawmen that are hired by towns to be the sheriff and deputy, especially during tough times. Virgil and Everett are hired by the leaders of Appaloosa after their previous sheriff and his men were murdered by Randall Bragg (Jeremy Irons). They come into town to clean it up. Soon after their arrival they meet Allison (Allie) French (Renee Zellweger), a widow who is down on her luck. Allie and Cole fall in love and soon are ready to set up house together. Meanwhile, Bragg is captured and brought to trial. Things do not run smoothly after the trial . . .to say more would ruin the plot!

Ben and I both enjoyed this movie. It had a great cast and witty dialogue. There were several laugh out loud moments caused by the dialogue between Cole and Hitch. Cole and Hitch’s friendship was also a deep meaningful bond that was interesting to watch.

What we didn’t like . . .the ending! Ben wishes it would have ended during the final shoot-out between the Shelton brothers and the two best friends. I am in agreement. The last 15 or so minutes seemed rushed and actually muddled the movie. During those last fifteen minutes, I lost respect for Cole and gained a lot for Hitch. SPOILER ALERT There were scenes that didn’t really make sense. You saw Hitch watching Allie and kept waiting for Bragg to exit the room after her or something, but that was never shown. You had to infer that Allie was keeping to her cheating ways and sleeping with Bragg and that Hitch was trying to rectify the matter for his friend.

I really did not like the character of Allie. I thought she was a tramp. Why did Cole love her two – timing heart so? I know she took a bath every night and chewed her food well (so he says in the movie), but always having to wonder if your woman is going to stand by you seems like more trouble then it is worth. I wanted Allie to die or to feel repentance if Cole died. Maybe I am just mean . . .does anyone else have any opinions about the ending of this movie?

I enjoyed this movie, but I felt that 3:10 to Yuma was a better movie and western.