The Big Picture

Appaloosa
is a historical thriller that adds insight to the traditional western genre and has some of the hottest moments in the genre.
The love triangle that occurs in
Appaloosa
creates tension between the main characters and succeeds due to the nuanced performances.
Appaloosa modernizes the western genre and proves Ed Harris is a great director.

Although it’s unlikely that it will ever reach the same prominence that it did during the 1950s and 1960s, the Western genre seems to have made a comeback in the 21st century. Prestige television shows like Godless and Deadwood have proved that adding historical insight to tales of the “Wild West” doesn’t have to be counterintuitive to the story, as westerns can be both historically accurate and exciting. While there have been many interesting new takes on the standard Western narrative that have merged it with other genres, there’s also something remarkable about a deliberately old-fashioned crowd-pleaser that isn’t afraid of being a throwback. While largely forgotten since its release, the Ed Harris-directed film Appaloosa is an exciting historical thriller that contains some of the hottest moments in the history of Westerns.

Appaloosa 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.Release Date September 19, 2008 Cast Robert Jauregui , Jeremy Irons , Timothy V. Murphy , Luce Rains , James Tarwater , Boyd Kestner Runtime 114 Writers Robert Knott , Ed Harris , Robert B. Parker

What Is ‘Appaloosa’ About?
Based on the 2005 novel of the same name by Robert B. Parker, Appaloosa follows the lawman Virgil Cole (Harris) and his deputy Everett Hitch (Viggo Mortensen) as they patrol the Wild West. After the small town of Appaloosa, New Mexico is threatened by the ruthless rancher Randall Bragg (Jeremy Irons), the two men are hired to protect the community’s citizens and given free rein to utilize whatever brand of justice they deem necessary. Appaloosa examines the nuanced power dynamics within the frontier era by showing what excessive means a community must turn to in order to protect itself. While the story is comparable to some of cinema’s most famous Westerns, Harris adds a level of historical attention-to-detail as a director that certainly elevates the material.

Although the film is packed with memorable action sequences, Appaloosa is ultimately a character study about two different types of Western protagonists. While Cole’s efforts to protect Appaloosa from Bragg’s forces are seen as heroic, he is unafraid to go through with acts of violence in order to ensure that his command is protected. Despite the cold exterior that he permeates, Cole’s vulnerabilities are revealed through his dynamic with Hitch. In one of his best performances, Mortensen shows the unspoken respect that Hitch has for the man he has served alongside for the majority of his career. While he is unflinchingly loyal to Cole, Hitch is also forced to reign him in when he risks putting their partnership in jeopardy.

What begins as a fairly straightforward gunslinger adventure movie transforms into a more nuanced deconstruction of Western masculinity once the character Allie French (Renne Zellweger) joins the story. A young widow that has recently relocated to Appaloosa, Allie begins to pursue a relationship with Cole, all while secretly harboring feelings of attraction for Hitch. The love triangle in Appaloosa successfully creates tension between the characters, as it questions whether Cole and Hitch will be able to retain their partnership. While the love triangle trope is not always successful, Appaloosa succeeds because it forces the two protagonists to question whether their professional relationship extends to personal loyalty.

Romantic Tension Is Central to ‘Appaloosa’
Image via New Line Cinema

While not a traditionally romantic Western, Appaloosa uses its sexual tension to advance the plot and question the characters’ integrity. After publicly buying a house with Cole and ostensibly swearing a vow of loyalty to him, Allie attempts to seduce Hitch. Allie makes sexual advances toward Hitch at the construction site of her future house with Cole. This act personifies her fickle nature; despite having a foundation laid out for her, Allie can’t help but yearn for someone she knows is unattainable. Hitch is put in a difficult position, as he has shown subtle signs of attraction towards Allie since their initial meeting. He is forced to refuse out of loyalty to Cole, indicating that he’s willing to make personal sacrifices in order to preserve his chivalry.

The love triangle in Appaloosa succeeds due to the nuanced performances, as it does not turn the romantic friction into melodrama. Despite having a steely, emotionless personality, Cole reveals himself to be much more sensitive than most Western heroes. After a challenging career and seeing many shocking instances of violence, Cole has anticipated settling down and living a quiet life with the woman that he cares for. In one of the film’s most powerful scenes, Cole admits to Hitch that he still loves Allie, despite her changing loyalties. The heartbreak that Harris conveys in his performance shows the thoughtfulness he put into embodying this character.

In addition to underlying the importance of Cole’s relationship with Hitch, Appaloosa’s love triangle makes its final duel more exciting. After it is discovered that Allie is also having a relationship with Bragg, Cole challenges the wicked rancher to a duel to the death. Cole’s emphatic anger and desire to protect Allie make the film’s exciting final gunfight more emotionally charged. While Cole has often fought in order to preserve the rule of law, at this moment, he’s faced with a confrontation where he’s motivated by personal desires.

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‘Appaloosa’ Proves Ed Harris Is a Great Director

While Appaloosa costuming, production design, and tone are certainly representative of an older generation of cinema, Harris modernized the Western genre by challenging standards of masculinity. By showing the internalized loneliness that gunslingers face amidst their futy, Appaloosa feels much more authentic than some of the Westerns it was inspired by. While his great performance certainly ranks among his personal best, Harris’ real strength is his direction. Appaloosa is only the second film that Harrris directed after his directorial debut with 2000’s Pollock.

While he has yet to step behind the camera again since Appaloosa, Harris remains one of the most underrated Western stars of all-time. The Academy Award-nominated actor initiated his career in the Charles Bronson Western Borderline, and has since appeared in Westerns like Walkers, Riders of the Purple Sage, and Sweetwater. Harris’ Emmy-nominated performance as the “Man in Black” in Westworld was both one of the show’s coolest characters and an interesting inversion of the role that Yul Brennar played in the original film of the same name from 1973. His ability to play a nuanced role makes him stand out in the already star-studded Western genre.

Appaloosa is streaming on Max.

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