Appaloosa at the Somerville Theater

I love westerns. I love gritty mud-covered cowboys drinking shots of whiskey, staring each other down and then unloading their guns into one another. I love panoramic scenes of the west with monument valley unfolding in the background. I love westerns and Appaloosa is a pretty solid western. Appaloosa is centered around lawman Virgil Cole (Ed Harris) and his deputy Everett Hitch (Viggo Mortensen), two friends that are hired to defend a lawless town from a murderous rancher (Jeremy Irons). Their efforts are disrupted and friendship tested by the arrival of ...ugh...a woman (Renee Zellwegger). Appaloosa is not a dark revisionists western like Deadwood or Unforgiven. There isn't much violence. No, Appaloosa is more like a John Ford western or the original 3:10 to Yuma. Its about the camaraderie between Harris and Mortensen and how their friendship surpasses all other obstacles. Harris and Mortensen, who both worked together in History of Violence, are both great. Renee Zellwegger is less so and you really begin to hope that an errant bullet will hit her in the face. Although it does little to advance the genre, the movie delivers a solid little western that will keep you entertained. I went with April who when it was over exclaimed, "so boring." But she isn't much of a western fan. So screw her.