‘Appaloosa’ is the latest in a slew of movies set to revive the Western genre.

Those raised on Westerns will be familiar with the concept: mysterious lawmen arrive to clean up a town, the bad guy is ruthless to the point of self-parody and after a few gun battles somebody always rides off into the sunset.

Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen are law officers and friends, asked by the small town of Appaloosa, N.M., to rid them of the ruthless villain, menacingly portrayed by Jeremy Irons.

A tension-forming subplot arises when an attractive young widow, played by Renee Zellweger, threatens to tear friendships apart.

All of this is promised within the first 20 minutes of the movie, which in turn sets the stage for the type of drama and action with which fans of Westerns will be familiar.

Unfortunately, director and star Ed Harris struggles to balance the two storylines of capturing the bad guy and rescuing the damsel in distress. Pacing problems show up after the first exciting 20 minutes fly past: all the major points and back story have already been covered, and it’s clear there is nowhere to go from there.

One problem with which Western movies have traditionally struggled has been the lack of character development. Who out there believes John Wayne was anything other than a two-dimensional, patriotic ass-kicker?

Yet in a genre that demands powerful emotional complexities and entire essays dedicated to the subtexts of The Man with No Name, the alternative is demonstrated here with far too much conversation and bonding than required.

The frequent attempts at character development via lengthy bouts of dialogue feel out of place for a movie that tries to stay true to its roots as a gritty western.

The in-between shots that seek to balance out these two stories mostly consist of the two men waxing philosophical about life, the universe and everything (one scene has Harris describing his life views: ‘never have feelings’).

When they’re not talking, they’re riding horses or talking while riding. These shots would be acceptable if the cinematography was suitably inspiring and majestic, but the sweeping hills of the Wild West are flat and underwhelming at best.

Gunfights are few and far between, keeping in pace with a character-driven movie, but potentially disappointing fans of action-packed Western classics.

Harris’ steely demeanor shouldn’t be surprising to fans of the genre, and he channels everybody from Clint Eastwood to the late Paul Newman with his fast talking and even faster shooting.

Frustratingly, Renee Zellweger’s character never realizes her full potential as a tension-creating femme fatale. Her role tries to examine the role of frontier women in the 19th century with a surprise to her personality, but it ultimately becomes tiresome.

Jeremy Irons manages to garner enough villainy with his portrayal of a highly educated yet ruthless ranch hand. It’s a shame he wasn’t used more often, surprisingly enough, as the scenes in which he appears are too short.

The real star isn’t Harris, who should nevertheless be commended for writing (more specifically, adapting from the novel) and directing his second film. It’s Mortensen’s subtle performance as Harris’s right-hand man that shines.

His character manages to build momentum while subversively playing second fiddle to Harris’ one-man show, until by the end of the movie, he’s the main star.

It’s an unusual ending, too: sure, it involves somebody riding off into the sunset, but as the movie chugs on, you’ll be hard-pressed to guess who it is.

The refreshingly different ending, however, isn’t enough to save the rest of the film from entering the realm of potential classics.

It’s less of a popcorn shoot-em-up movie than the gunfire-laden trailer will have you believe, which might prove frustrating to fans of traditional Westerns.

Yet the latest crop of successful, Academy Award-nominated Western films such as ‘No Country for Old Men’ and ‘There Will Be Blood’ show there’s a place in Hollywood for both reviving the old genre and turning it on its head.

‘Appaloosa’ fits into the latter category as a character-driven movie about two conflicted and loyal men, split between love and duty, who just happen to be in 1800s New Mexico. In that regard, it’s merely passable.

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Published on October 15, 2008 at 12:00 pm