“You can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig.”
--Apparently an old adage, most recently used by Barack Obama to
describe John McCain
Why do I think of the above
campaign-quote when I ponder how the masses will react to
Appaloosa? After all, it’s not even the appropriate analogy.
If we’re going to get technical, Appaloosa takes lipstick
off the pig, but it’s still a pig with lipstick.
Yeah, yeah – I realize I’m not
making much sense here and I’ve already struck some of you as an
amateur reviewer attempting to be topical. There’s a simple
point I’m trying to make: no matter how differently people may
perceive Appaloosa from the standard western, it still
very much belongs to the genre. Yes, the movie may be more
stripped down than others of its kind, but all the markings of a
western are still in place.
Neither Appaloosa’s
adherence to genre-standards nor its minimalist approach are bad
things, either. In fact, this may be the most interesting (and
the best) western I’ve seen in years. Director Ed Harris has
crafted the first setting and story in the genre (at least that
I’ve experienced) that feel authentic to what life was really
like in the Old West. Still in play are traditional themes
regarding friendship, loyalty, revenge, and struggle, but these
are all handled in more down-to-earth ways than you might
observe in, say, Open Range. The big gunfight showdowns
occur over about ten seconds, just as they actually would with
men facing off toe-to-toe, and the central male bond is defined
not by preachy dialogue but by long stretches of two men passing
time together.
Appaloosa moves like life
really might in the time and place in which it is set. This is
probably the reason that the average ADD American moviegoer
might deny its status as a western. (Yes, I admit that I am
merely speculating as to what mainstream cinema audiences will
think of the picture—I hope I am wrong—but it seems to me that
they’ll feel cheated given the film has been marketed as a
western and doesn’t deliver loud and lengthy gunplay, an
obnoxious villain, and over-exaggerated conversations about
honor.) Whatever people may think, however, it’s this very
approach that endows the picture with its distinguished beauty.
Much as cinematographer Dean Semler’s sparse vision of the
fictional New Mexican town of Appaloosa may lure the open-minded
viewer into the action, it’s the hypnotizing pace of the film
that really allows said viewer to connect with the characters
and the story. The picture becomes involving in a first-person
sense; Harris’ approach invites his audience to become patrons
at Appaloosa’s diner and ride on horseback behind protagonists
Virgil Cole (Harris) and Everett Hitch (Viggo Mortensen) as they
vie to capture villain Randall Bragg (Jeremy Irons).
I don’t want you to read that last
sentence in the glib way that you might be inclined to; I’m not
at all intending to seem like a quote-whore who loudly proclaims
“You’ll feel like you’re really there!” Instead, I’m
merely using hyperbole to express just how unique Appaloosa
is in the way that it crafts its setting.
But as I’ve already stated,
Appaloosa is indeed a true-to-form western despite its
distinctive features. In the lead roles, Harris and Mortensen
share strong chemistry that is essential to the movie’s take on
traditional western commentary on the nature of friendship and
duty. Irons makes for a challengingly elusive—though nonetheless
entirely devilish—villain, even if he isn’t as cartoonishly evil
as many of might expect. And Renée Zellweger turns in fine work
as an Old West femme fatale of sorts, making for a spicy
addition to the plot.
Speaking of the plot: I have
intentionally not mentioned many details because a “virgin”
cinema-going experience is in this case crucial to one’s ability
to digest the film’s thematic arc. If you go into Appaloosa
not expecting the western that Hollywood has force-fed you for
God knows how long—this ain’t no Unforgiven, but it’s
comparably genre-revitalizing—but rather one that takes risks
within a loose mold, then you’ll love it. Lipstick or not, this
is one pig (err… motion-picture) well worth the intelligent
viewer’s time and money.
-Danny Baldwin, Bucket Reviews
Review Published on: 9.25.2008
Screened on: 9.19.2008 at the Landmark in West Los
Angeles, CA.