Appaloosa (2008)

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.

Director:

Ed Harris

Writers:

Robert Knott (screenplay), Ed Harris (screenplay),

Stars:

Ed Harris, Viggo Mortensen, Renée Zellweger

3 wins.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Robert Jauregui	...	Marshall Jack Bell (as Bobby Jauregui)
Jeremy Irons	...	Randall Bragg
Timothy V. Murphy	...	Vince
Luce Rains	...	Dean
James Tarwater	...	Chalk (as Jim Tarwater)
Boyd Kestner	...	Bronc
Gabriel Marantz	...	Joe Whittfield
Ed Harris	...	Virgil Cole
Viggo Mortensen	...	Everett Hitch
Benjamin Rosenshein	...	Town Boy
Cerris Morgan-Moyer	...	Tilda
James Gammon	...	Earl May
Timothy Spall	...	Phil Olson
Tom Bower	...	Abner Raines
Erik J. Bockemeier	...	Fat Wallis

Storyline

1882, New Mexico Territory. Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch are itinerant lawmen, hired by desperate towns as marshal and deputy. The city fathers of Appaloosa hire them after Randall Bragg, a newly-arrived rancher with money and a gang of thugs, disrupts commerce and kills three local lawmen. Cole and Hitch contrive to arrest Bragg and bring him to trial, but hanging him proves difficult. Meanwhile, a widow has arrived in town, Allison French, pretty, refined, and good-natured. Virgil falls hard, and it seems mutual, but there may be more to Allie than meets the eye. Can friendship and skill with a gun overcome a pernicious villain and green-eyed jealousy?

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Plot Keywords:

deputy | rancher | widow | hanging | friend | 

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Taglines:

Feelings get you killed.

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Western

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Certificate:

14A

Details

Official Sites:

Warner Bros [United States]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Apache languages Spanish

Release Date:

3 October 2008 (USA)

Also Known As:

Entre la vida y la muerte

Filming Locations:

Austin, Texas, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

£90,673 (UK) (26 September 2008)

Gross:

$20,207,003 (USA) (16 January 2009)

Company Credits

Production Co:

New Line Cinema, Axon Films, Groundswell Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

115 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Jeremy Irons, Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen have all worked with director David Cronenberg in the past.

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Goofs

During the opening murder scene, the cocking lever of the Winchester is fully down (probably a jammed blank didn't eject). There's a cutaway and then while Bragg is still walking away, we clearly see the rifle with the cocking lever is now fully retracted.

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Quotes

Virgil Cole: [to the town horrified town leaders as he calmly reloads his pistol after he and Everett have just shot some of Bragg's henchmen in the bar] I warned 'em.

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Crazy Credits

While being credited, items relating to positions and roles are displayed. Examples: Producers are listed as money is shown, an antique ink dryer is shown for the editor, production designer shows an antique tin cup and costume designer shows the top of a hat.

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Connections

References Die Hard: With a Vengeance (1995)

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Soundtracks

Hanon Exercises
Written by Charles-Louis Hanon
Performed by Kate Jewell

User Reviews

A fascinating Western about two lifelong friends…

There are two tough partners in justice Virgil Cole (Ed Harris) and Everett Hitch (Viggo Mortensen) that have been riding together for more than one decade and they understand each other just fine… So they're not initially supposed to talk about their easy, warm, intuitive solidarity… We intuitively catch there's something between them, that special bond, that profound respect, and obviously that sense of esteem, of attention and sympathy and most of all each other's needs…

Ed is particularly fine… It may not be a romantic conception, but he gives his role great vitality… He's melancholy, laconic and assured as the cool, nerveless professional hired gun who becomes the town's peace keeper... His justice is rapid and simple… Follow his law or get locked up; if you deny, you're going to be shot… He's also very faithful, and you see this in his friendship with Everett Hitch…

Virgil trusts Everett completely because Everett is very sincere and truthful with him…

With his formidable shotgun, Everett is a kind of Virgil's straight man, his worshiping right hand and conscience… Mortensen is a sharpshooter… He's never seen on foot, in any scene, without his huge weapon… His heavy rifle has become almost another character in the film… It doesn't matter where, either in his hands or right next to him… And that's in the bar, in the restaurant, in the office, and even in the bedroom…

Renee Zellweger plays the role of Allison French, a mysterious woman who seduces everyone…After Cole and Hitch meet her in a restaurant, they knew that she is a refined widow, that she arrives to the brutal New Mexico town with one dollar in her purse, that she plays piano and likes to be called Allie…

Cole takes a liking to her, and makes a very tough decision to stick with her… Zellweger plays the malicious new-gal with a great sense of sweetness and gaiety… She brings liveliness and refinement to her role…

Another strong character in "Appaloosa" is the miscreant cold-hearted rancher Randall Bragg… The film starts with the killing of the town's last Marshall and his deputies at the hands of the nefarious Bragg played by Jeremy Irons… Bragg is a wealthy man whose ranch henchmen run menacingly and aggressively over the town…

"Appaloosa" is a Western of real depth and sophistication… Every punch seen in the film is like a word of dialog moving the story forward, creating tension and drama…