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Appaloosa
EMAILPRINTNew Line Cinema (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 32 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 53 votes
Read user comments
Rate this movie >
Movie Info
Genre(s): Western
Written by:
Robert B. Parker (novel)
Ed Harris
Robert Knott
Directed by: Ed Harris
Release Date:
Theatrical: September 19, 2008
DVD: January 13, 2009
Running Time: 114 minutes, Color
Origin: USA
Summary
RATING: R for some violence and language
Starring Viggo Mortensen, Ed Harris, Renée Zellweger, Jeremy Irons, Timothy Spall, and Lance Henriksen
In the small mining community of Appaloosa, a ruthless, powerful rancher named Randall Bragg has allowed his band of outlaws to run roughshod over the town. After the cold-blooded murder of Appaloosa's city marshal, Cole and Hitch are hired to bring the murderer to justice. (Warner Bros.)
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Rolling Stone Peter Travers
Appaloosa is gripping entertainment that keeps springing surprises.
Read Full Review >Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell
If you're an actual adult who likes old-school Westerns, this won't disappoint you.
Read Full Review >Film Threat Matthew Sorrento
The romantic subplot dovetails wonderfully with Harris' tribute to the genre's golden age. The moral quest of taming the West always thrived if a lady could be won in tandem.
Read Full Review >The Hollywood Reporter Kirk Honeycutt
A fine dramatic comedy with fresh characters, witty dialogue and a keen interest in how relationships must have developed among frontier folks, tyrannical ranchers, no-nonsense lawmen and -- oh, yes -- the complicated women on that frontier.
Read Full Review >New York Post Lou Lumenick
Beautifully photographed by Dean Semler, Appaloosa is the best Western since "Open Range" and shows there's still life in this most unfashionable of genres.
Read Full Review >Miami Herald Connie Ogle
It turns out to be a satisfying, if occasionally wandering, adventure.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe Wesley Morris
A warmly made, slightly offbeat movie about friendly devotion. It also happens to be a western, and every man in it is grizzled or wizened or both.
Read Full Review >Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert
What makes the movie absorbing is the way it harmonizes all the character strands and traits and weaves them into something more engaging than a mere 1-2-3 plot. I felt like I did in "Lonesome Dove" -- that there was a chair for me on the porch.
Read Full Review >Philadelphia Inquirer Carrie Rickey
First and last, Appaloosa is the slow-but-sure story of the friendship between Virgil and Everett, one a man of action surprised by emotion, the other a man of emotion surprised by action.
Read Full Review >Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker
An old-fashioned Western with all the classic elements -- buddy loyalty, stalwart heroes, despicable villains, plenty of gunfights and marvelous wind-scoured desert landscapes -- marked by some modern ideas about relationships.
Read Full Review >ReelViews James Berardinelli
Westerns often take themselves seriously and, while Appaloosa is no "Blazing Saddles," there's a refreshing vein of understated humor running throughout the production.
Read Full Review >San Francisco Chronicle Peter Hartlaub
Most of the time, the movie is appropriately gritty and plenty engaging.
Read Full Review >Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum
This isn't a visionary western like "The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada" (2005), but in its own quiet way it delivers the goods.
Read Full Review >Washington Post Mike Mayo
Harris and Mortensen may not have the combined star power to push Appaloosa to the level of popularity of last year's "3:10," but the film is every bit as enjoyable, and, for traditionalists, more measured.
Read Full Review >Time Richard Corliss
It's good to spend time with a movie that takes its time. Granted, Harris doesn't advance the genre; instead he burrows into it, finds a home there, as one might retreat to musty library stacks, where old pleasures and treasures await.
Read Full Review >The New Yorker David Denby
In all, Appaloosa is good as far as it goes--everything in it feels true--but I wish that Harris had pushed his ideas further.
Read Full Review >Village Voice Chuck Wilson
Harris and his collaborators are playing it straight with a timeless male fantasy--horse, hat, six-shooter--a traditional approach that will please moviegoers like my dad and yours.
Read Full Review >The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias
As with many other mediocre actor-directors, Harris' attention to the performances, including his own fine turn, has cost him in other areas.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly Owen Gleiberman
A throwback to the age when Westerns were quaint.
Read Full Review >Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov
We've heard tell about the rebirth of the Western at least since Clint Eastwood's vicious, "Unforgiven" 16 years ago, but since the genre never truly died in the first place there's no need to flog that horse here.
Read Full Review >Christian Science Monitor Robert Koehler
As director, Harris takes this classical sense of the western too far, though, until it seems that the movie is carefully trying to keep the genre alive.
Read Full Review >USA Today Claudia Puig
Harris is a major asset in a film that is entertaining but somewhat unfocused and occasionally badly cast.
Read Full Review >Chicago Tribune Michael Phillips
It's less a western than a loping buddy picture.
Read Full Review >The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen
Appaloosa wobbles and wanders, promising to take a fresh look at those old myths, only to lapse back into weary convention.
Read Full Review >New York Daily News Elizabeth Weitzman
Though the leads do fine work, their efforts often feel slightly futile. Despite a few flashes of the darker tone percolating under the surface, the movie remains too well-mannered to truly pull us in.
Read Full Review >The New York Times A.O. Scott
The movie's tolerant, good-humored view of its characters drains it of some dramatic intensity, but Mr. Harris seems more interested in piquant, offhand moments than in big, straining confrontations.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times Kenneth Turan
The two men collaborate so well, in fact, that the real love match of Appaloosa is between the two of them and no one else.
Read Full Review >Salon.com Stephanie Zacharek
If Appaloosa is something to look at, it's also unnecessarily lethargic. Even an intentionally slow-paced picture needs to have its own internal source of energy, and as a filmmaker, Harris can't quite get that motor running.
Read Full Review >Variety Todd McCarthy
Harris' first directorial outing since his impressive and entirely different "Pollock" biopic bears echoes of many genre predecessors, especially Howard Hawks' "Rio Bravo" -- but echoes they remain.
Read Full Review >TV Guide Maitland McDonagh
Played for Maverick-like comedy, the film might have coasted on Harris and Mortensen's dialogue. But played straight it's both dull and preposterous.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this movie is 5.5 (out of 10) based on 53 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
KDG gave it a2:
Yawn and double yawn. Zellweger is either horribly miscast or phonig it in, and I generally like her. Although it is beautifully shot and Mortensen is typically strong, the story goes nowhere and it does so very slowly with, at ltimes, shockingly bad dialogue. Don't bother wasting your time on this one.
BEE snider gave it a10:
Great Cinematography, acting was superb, I have a feeling most people did not understand much of the story but hey, it's their loss.
David R gave it a3:
Slow, very little to get excited about after the opening scenes and nearly put me to sleep in at least three places. Everybody but Viggo Mortensen appeared to be overacting. Renee Zellweger's character was so badly written she had to be explained by the other characters. I wouldnt recommend this to anyone.
pdx srw gave it a1:
One of the worst movies I have seen in some time. If you like Mystery Science Theater 3k, then this is a fun movie to comment along to. A disappointing waste of time. The editing appears to have been performed by Elementary School Media 101 students. The dialog must have been written by the low bidder from a 3rd world company of drunken nomads. Ed Harris, I am embarrassed for you. Vigo, other than the Lord of the Rings trilogy, I have yet to take an interest in your character. And Renee Z.... ugh... painful.
Ryan S. gave it a0:
This movie was short on the classic westerns gun slinging and full of power struggles between the characters of the movie. Ed Harris is a great actor, but this movie defiantly rates a movie that leaves much to be desired. I would not recommend this movie to anyone who is looking for a movie that has the same results as tombstone.
Judy G. gave it a0:
Without a doubt, one of the worst films I have ever seen-I like Ed harris a lot and I love Westerns but this was terrible- Stilted dialogue, poorly written and very predictable story line-sggest Ed Harris stick with his day job
John C. gave it an8:
Its a good old fashion western. I loved it.
