Go West, Young Woman?

I'm not much for Westerns, so I wasn't as up for Appaloosa as my former class cohort Patricia. Then she reminded me of a major selling point: Viggo. Ah, Viggo. Man who helped me survive the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Man who was so awesome in Eastern Promises. We also have Ed Harris, a man's man. With Paul Newman's recent passing, Harris may have the steeliest (is that a word?) pair of baby blues out there. OK, I'm more game.

Slightly weathered but still rugged, mesmerizing shades of blue and tan that captivate immediately - I’m describing the manly forms of Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen in Appaloosa, although Dean Semler’s cinematography of Texas and New Mexico landscapes looks gorgeous, too!

Harris does just about everything except pick out curtains in this Western (and his character also has a chance to do that). He plays marshal-for-hire Virgil Cole, directs, produces, co-writes the screenplay adaptation of a Robert B. Parker novel and even sings a Johnny Cash-like ditty over the closing credits. Appaloosa has much to recommend, until a pesky woman mars the day.

Cole and his partner/best friend of 12 years, Everett Hitch (Mortensen), ride into Appaloosa, N.M., to clean up the town. Their main target: another colorfully named character, rancher Randall Bragg (oddly accented Jeremy Irons). Cole is the alpha male, Hitch the all-seeing, quietly correcting No. 2. (Virgil reads Emerson but trips on pronouncing such words as “sequestered” and “degrading.”) As zingy as Appaloosa’s dialogue is, Mortensen doesn’t speak much of it. Most of his acting comes from listening and observing, a performance of unexpected vitality. You can detect shades of the Russian gangster he played in last year’s Eastern Promises in this taciturn Western lawman.

A woman comes along, the widow Allison French (Renee Zellweger). Virgil rapidly becomes enamored of this Allie, who is not like the “whores and squaws” he is used to - “She likes to take a bath at night” - and they set up house. Despite her organ playing and high necklines, Allie isn’t exactly the simple frontier woman. Everett soon grasps this. So does Bragg.

Watching Harris and Mortensen interact in Appaloosa, doing something as simple as sitting on a bench, one recalls the easy connection between fellow blue-eyed wonder Paul Newman (who played Harris’ father in the 2005 miniseries Empire Falls) and his two-time co-star Robert Redford. Sometimes, the rich words don’t sound right for the time period - did men really discuss their feelings in 1882 as if on Oprah? Harris and Mortensen’s chemistry sells it anyway.

If only the male/female dynamic were even half as interesting. Allie first appears to be a rare multidimensional female part in a Western, until she devolves into the stereotype that women ultimately are power-hungry and, well, kind of easy. A miscast Zellweger (in Cold Mountain mode) doesn’t provide any shading that could have added nuance. From the start, Allie comes across as immature, her motives obvious.

Harris also may have taken on one task too many when he chose to make Appaloosa his directorial follow-up to 2000’s Pollock. Particularly during the latter half, the pacing lags, as storylines continue after their natural resolutions. The town scenes also have a soundstage feel; they need more soot and grit.

Let’s circle back to the central relationship in Appaloosa. “Allie, you’re with Virgil. So am I,” Everett explains when his best friend’s girl kisses him. Ed and Viggo - now that’s a love story to savor.