re: *** Official APPALOOSA Discussion Thread
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Originally Posted by Steve_Tk
Was this actually released?
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Yes, I saw it last Saturday (Sept. 20) in New York. It's supposed to go wider on Oct. 3.
I loved it -- really loved it -- but a lot depends on your expectations. It's not an
Open Range. It's a much slyer, funnier film, and the humor is purely intentional. (There's a running gag between Harris and Mortensen that lets you know you're meant to laugh.) And the plot takes its time, because the real story is the relationship between these two long-time friends and co-workers, and how it's affected when Renee Zellweger's character turns up. Jeremy Irons does a fine job as the nasty villain, but going after him becomes almost a secondary plot.
I've heard the criticism (mostly from one of the new guys on
At the Movies) that Zellweger is from another movie, but that's really the point: She's a different animal from these two hired guns. There's a great conversation in the second half of the film in which they sort out what they think about her. It's not politically correct, but it's accurate.
The cinematography is gorgeous. It was shot by Dean Semler, Oscar winner for
Dances with Wolves, veteran of the second two
Mad Max films and many others. Semler and Harris frame for the full width of the 2.35:1 frame. This is one of those rare contemporary films that has an old-time epic visual sweep. Worth seeing in a theater, IMO, but then I usually say that.
Stay through the end credits. Harris sings a country-western ballad, in character as Virgil, to Zellweger's character. It's both funny and touching, and he's a pretty good singer.
Probably my favorite American Western since
Unforgiven (and that includes
Wyatt Earp, Open Range and last year's
3:10 to Yuma and
Assassination of Jesse James, all of which I enjoyed). I said "American" Western so as not to have to decide between this and
The Proposition.
M.
