Appaloosa

If ya' like Westerns, pardner, you'll like Appaloosa.

Written, produced and starring Ed Harris, it felt like a vanity film. I've got a story to tell, and I've got the money to make it. Sort of life self-publishing these days.

Up front, the sheriff who's gunned down in cold blood by the bad guy (Jeremy Irons) speaks his lines so poorly, I might have shot him, too, had I been the director.

Every Western cliche is used here, but I enjoyed it - a pleasant afternoon diversion.

But then I love Westerns. Two of my all-time favorites stand tall in the saddle: Silverado and Red River - both, in my judgment, flawless, and by such standards I judge all other efforts. By comparison, Appaloosa has the feel of a "B" western. But, hey, I love Roy Rogers and Gene Autry, too. Just glad Harris and Mortensen didn't pick up a Gee-tar and start pickin'.

Renee Zelweger is delightful as a woman who can't make up her mind - she loves the nearest top dog, whoever the dog may be. Getting to the top, so to speak, is her mission in life, and like women then, and still too often today, a woman has to pay the piper - somewhere I read, a man loves in order to get sex; a woman gives sex in order to be loved. Zelweger's face is utterly unique - sincere, innocent and selfishly dangerous, all at the same.

The side-kick deputy (Viggo Mortensen) does exceedingly well, as does Harris, although even here, there was a certain dark passion missing. Hard to put my finger on it, but it's like a loaf of home-baked bread that didn't have enough salt in it.

Mortensen's character is the most complex - a man of unceasing loyalty to the Sheriff (Harris) - he wants Allison French (Zelweger) who makes a play for him, but walks away for the sake of his friend. There's a quiet passion in the character, and Mortensen conveys it, mostly.

Sometimes the feel of good actors saying mediocre lines telling a formulaic story.

Other pieces fit well - the costuming, the music, the cinematography.

Worth seeing?

Sure, why not? Bang, bang!