Appaloosa

2008 Directed by Ed Harris

Feelings get you killed.

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.

Viggo Mortensen Ed Harris Renée Zellweger Jeremy Irons Timothy Spall Lance Henriksen Timothy V. Murphy Robert Jauregui Luce Rains Gabriel Marantz Cerris Morgan-Moyer James Gammon Tom Bower Ariadna Gil

Alternative Titles

Appaloosa - A törvényen kívüli város, Appaloosa - Uma Cidade Sem Lei

crime western drama

115 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by ScreeningNotes ★★★ 1

"It was going to be a long ride, and there was no reason to hurry."
Appaloosa is a respectable new-age western which is satisfied with just soaking in the atmosphere of the western world it creates. It's not in a hurry to get anywhere or do anything particularly new, but it's mostly successful at the modest goals it sets out to achieve. It's essentially a traditional 40's–50's western (i.e. not revisionist) made in the modern day.
The biggest highlight is the performances: Ed Harris (also directing, and quite capably) and Viggo Mortensen play a marshall-and-deputy duo that have been together forever, and their amiable rapport translates well to the screen (there's this bit they do, where Harris can't think of…
Review by Sofa Sinema ★★★½ 3

Captures the straightforward elegance of Robert B. Parker's western noir prose. The casting of Renee Zellwegger is tragic, though.
Review by Andy Summers ★★★½ 1

Modern Westerns seem to get little attention these days unless they're directed by a certain Mr Quentin Tarantino. Django Unchained's success was a shot in the arm for the genre that had still delivered some impressive productions but rarely set the box office alight.
Ed Harris takes a starring role here and also makes a welcome return to the director's chair he'd filled so well on Pollock. Alongside Viggo Mortensen who yet again gives an effortlessly nuanced performance, this is an traditionalist Western with a simple plot that brings the best out of Harris, Mortensen, and the still incredible Jeremy Irons as the evil rancher intent on doing whatever he sees fit. Good versus bad in a battle for control…
Review by RetroHound ★★★★

A really solid Western that doesn't always go where you expect, but goes where it should. I did not realize Ed Harris directed this until the movie started. Some excellent camera work, and some surprises, such as a shot of the train from an overlook, and a cougar walks into the camera frame. It was beautiful, and I don't think I'd ever seen that before. I liked the relationship between Ed Harris and Renée Zellweger. She can't help herself from falling for (sleeping with) whomever is the alpha dog (or boss stallion as they say in the movie) in any situation. When Harris finds this out, he loves her enough that he is willing to accept that just to be…
Review by Oneepiexe ★★★ 2

Appaloosa ist ein spannungsarmer Western mit austauschbaren Figuren und einer nicht nennenswerten Handlung, aber sämtliche Darsteller rund um Ed Harris, Viggo Mortensen und Co. sind klasse, visuell weiß der Film ebenfalls zu überzeugen, Jeremy Irons gibt einen charismatischen Bösewicht ab und der Unterhaltungswert ist riesig. Darüber hinaus vergehen die zwei Stunden wahnsinnig schnell. Ed Harris, der hier als Hauptdarsteller, Drehbuchautor und Produzent tätig war, hat mit Appaloosa vielleicht nicht den größten Wurf gemacht, aber definitiv einen sehr unterhaltsamen. Sehr routinierter Western, mit dem man sicherlich nichts falsch macht.
Review by Moaaz. ★★★½

A wonderful entertaining western shows glimpses of authetic firm ones. The dialogues were great. The depth given to characters is remarkable.
Review by Andy Summers ★★★ 3

The Western genre has had a bit of a lean time over the last 20 years or so. Yes we have had a few stunners,most notably from Mr Eastwood and a certain Kevin Costner, but Ed Harris must be congratulated for his attempt to join those illustrious directors, but with this film he falls just short of greatness.
Tommy Lee Jones' "The Three Burials Of Melquiades Estrada" is probably the finest Western of the last 10 years, but had a modern take on the genre, Harris' Western however has a distinct classic feel to it with well defined good guys and bad guys.
Harris and Viggo Mortensen are an impressive double act. They exude confidence and are clinical in their…
Review by Faethor Ferenczy ★★

'Thunderous action and nail-biting suspense' says Peter Travers from Rolling Stone magazine.
'Among the best films of the year - 5 stars' says David Edwards of the Daily Mirror.
What film were they watching? Certainly not this tedious snooze-fest of a western.
The film completely lacked any kind of charisma. Ed Harris oozed drabness, Viggo Mortensen wasn't really much of anything, and Renee Zellweger was totally miscast, as she is in anything where she's not playing a pathetic sounding weak misfit. Jeremy Irons was OK, however they could have done a lot more with him I feel.
I really don't know what else to say about it. Just a Western based melodrama with nobody able to give a strong enough performance to carry it. Not engaging at all. Very disappointed. 4/10
Review by NutshellReviews ★★★½ 2

In a nutshell:
🤠🤠
* Viggo Mortensen & Ed Harris appeared in A History of Violence (2005) together, & their chemistry was excellent there, so no surprise that they’ve struck gold again (Viggo makes for one cool looking cowboy FYI). Diane Lane was originally cast as Allison French, but left the project during pre-production, which is a real shame because Renee Zellweger feels slightly off... it doesn’t help that I think she’s started to have some work done on her face, & looks a bit squishy (just sayin 🤷🏻‍♂️) 🎭
* Ed Harris does a solid job, nothing too flashy, just competent & steady 🎥👏
* Pleasant score, not particularly noteworthy, but a jaunty main theme perks things up now & then 🎵
* Originally…
Review by mick culleton ★★★½

A town hires two gun slingers to bring control to a small mining town thats over run by a malevolent rancher and his men, When a newly widowed woman arrives in town aswell , Things get even more complicated , Slow-burning western with a top cast
Review by Jeremy Poulos ★★★ 2

As a buddy movie, this is really cool. Harris and especially Mortinson created some great characters.
As a western, it is entertaining enough and I appreciate a recent, well-made western with a theatrical release. However, after a second viewing it still feels more like a homage to great westerns of the past. It's a western for people who like westerns and can recall what they like about them. I'm okay with that because I like westerns.
What I don't like is Renee Zelwegger ruining every scene with her awful acting. She has an Oscar? Fuck, she's bad.
This movie gets extra points for using Lance Henrickson! maybe he should have also played Zelwegger's part, couldn't be any worse.
Review by Juan Castillo ★★★½

Ed Harris cambió los pinceles por las pistolas para su segundo largometraje como director. Appaloosa, adaptación de una novela del autor noir Robert B. Parker, es un wéstern aparentemente elemental que, no obstante, elude, como el propio personaje de Viggo Mortensen apunta en su inicio, los tropos más previsibles del género.
Lo que en un principio puede parecer la enésima recreación del wéstern sedentario con marshall inalterable, ayudante juicioso y dama abnegada, tan deudor de Howard Hawks como de John Ford, sorprende a partir de su segundo acto tomando derroteros bastante menos convencionales, curiosamente coincidiendo con la inédita aparición de un puma en el paisaje.
El factor que provoca que la narrativa de Appaloosa se aleje del lugar común es,…

Recent reviews

Review by Pigio ★★★

Un western classico che propone, attraverso un ritmo sobrio ma scorrevole, alcuni interessanti elementi moderni ed alquanto peculiari: fascinose e polverose scenografie del New Mexico, un senso di giustizia che intende prevalere sulla legge del più forte, un'incisiva presenza femminile e il tandem perfetto tra lo stesso regista Ed Harris ed il sempre meraviglioso V. Mortensen.
Review by TheSuperBrando ★★

It wasn't the worst movie ever, but it was boring. There are much better westerns you could be watching instead of this one.
Review by Movies Watched ★★★½

I love a good western and this one fits the bill!
It’s a not so uncommon western tale of an overbearing rancher imposing his will on a small town. Small town hires two gunmen to take back control of their own town.
Directed by and starring Ed Harris who is great in both aspects. His chemistry with Viggo Mortensen stands out. They worked together a few years prior in A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE
Jeremy Irons as the villain hits as well.
Renee Zellweger on the other hand, is out of place in this movie. You can’t be in a western with that amount of work down on your face. Just isn’t natural. Her character arc is different then most females…
Review by MoviePenguin ★★½

Started off pretty solid, but once it drifted into more of a melodrama I stood off.
Review by Ainu89 ★★★½

Auch wenn der Film nicht viel bietet, was man nicht auch schon von anderen Genrevertretern kennt, ist das, was man hier zu sehen bekommt solide Inszeniert, stimmig musikalisch unterlegt, gut gespielt und schön ausgestattet. Wer also mal wieder Lust auf einen klassischen Western hat, könnte es wahrlich schlechter treffen.
Review by schrise ★★★½

Ed Harris dreamboat ;))))
Review by eamonnsheehan ★★★★

I’m a sucker for a good Western
Review by Luis_989 ★★★

65/100
The length and pacing get a bit out of hand for Ed Harris, but still, this was a pretty solid western.
Much better than I expected.
Review by Jeffrey Rubenstein ★★★★

Action packed western starring Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen.
Review by Chris Lynch ★★★½

Brilliant first act followed by a good second act. Then after the fade to black at the end of act two, the whole thing grinds to a halt and crawls to a fairly predictable finish. It looks great and the cast are excellent. Its unfortunate that it isn't better.
Review by Richard K ★★½

It's like (HBO's) Westworld before they added all the (dumb) confusing sci-fi mumbo-jumbo.
Review by Christopher Rohde ★★★½

Sturdy, but slightly underwhelming Western. Handsomely shot in an old-fashioned style with lots of wide shots and deep space compositions, some decent (albeit low-key) action, and great acting across the board, including minor roles for character actors Lance Henriksen, Rex Linn and Timothy Spall. The characters are interesting and multi-faceted, but the movie lacks a sure hand behind the camera to really connect them with the audience. You could be forgiven for not even realizing Viggo Mortensen was supposed to be the protagonist until the very end of the movie. In the grand tradition of narcissistic actor vanity projects, Ed Harris not only stars, writes, produces and directs, but also sings a song in character over the end credits (sample lyrics: “Please, don’t go on whoring / or I won’t be no lawman”), but if that’s the price of admission, I’m still glad he shepherded APPALOOSA to the screen.