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| APPALOOSA (2008) - R
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SBD Star Rating:
by LEW IRWIN
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 Appaloosa, which is directed, co-written by and co-stars Ed Harris, returns the Western to the screen after a considerable absence. Most critics praise the performances of Harris and co-star Viggo Mortenson. "The movie's undeniable highlight is the chemistry and camaraderie between" the two men, Claudia Puig remarks in USA Today. Although the film is no Brokeback Mountain, Roger Ebert comments in the Chicago Sun-Times, "The two men collaborate so well, in fact, that the real love match of Appaloosa is between the two of them and no one else." Michael Sragow in the Baltimore Sun writes that the two actors "know their own strength, and, like their characters, use it wisely and without apology." A.O. Scott in the New York Times concludes that it is the acting that makes the movie worth watching. "It's not a great western, and, as I've suggested, it doesn't really try to be. Some potentially interesting political themes -- about what it means for a polity to privatize its apparatus of justice and security, about the relationship between righteousness and force -- are left for other, more earnest pictures to explore. This one shows a square jaw and a steely gaze, but also a smile and a wink." |
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