Appaloosa (2008)

In 1832 New Mexico, a marshal (Ed Harris) and his deputy (Viggo Morensen) attempt to bring a powerful rancher (Jeremy Irons) to justice in the murder of the previous marshal (Robert Jauregui). Things become complicated when a woman (Renee Zellweger) with dubious loyalties moves into town and catches the marshal's fancy. Based on the novel by Robert B. Parker and directed and co-written by Ed Harris. Westerns, once a staple of Hollywood film making, are so infrequent today that there might be a tendency to overrate them. In the case of APPALOOSA (not to be confused by the 1966 Marlon Brando film of the same name), there's a solid decent western here. Harris keeps the narrative simple while investing his characters with enough layers that they take on a richness and depth which elevates the stakes. The film has an authentic feel to it and fortunately the four leads (Harris, Mortensen, Zellweger, Irons) have ideal faces for a western. None of them look "Hollywood", they all have unglamorous lived in faces. Harris and Mortensen have a nice camaraderie and the movie is smart. Genre fans should be pleased. With Timothy Spall, Lance Henricksen, Ariadna Gil and James Gammon.