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Appaloosa

Appaloosa (2008)

tomatometer

77

Average Rating: 6.6/10
Reviews Counted: 158
Fresh: 121 | Rotten: 37

A traditional genre western, Appaloosa sets itself apart with smart psychology, an intriguing love triangle, and good chemistry between the leads.

74

Average Rating: 6.6/10
Critic Reviews: 34
Fresh: 25 | Rotten: 9

A traditional genre western, Appaloosa sets itself apart with smart psychology, an intriguing love triangle, and good chemistry between the leads.

audience

55

liked it
Average Rating: 3.2/5
User Ratings: 53,262

My Rating

Movie Info

Upon drifting into a troubled Western outpost and discovering that the helpless locals are being terrorized by a ruthless rancher and his brutish hired hands, two rugged, straight-shooting peacemakers decide to stick around and put things right in this Western adapted from the novel by Robert B. Parker and directed by Ed Harris. Bragg (Jeremy Irons) is a rancher who believes himself to be above the law, a stance that's forever cemented when he guns down the town sheriff and his deputy in cold

R, 1 hr. 55 min.

Western, Action & Adventure

Ed Harris, Robert Knott

Jan 13, 2009

$20.2M

Warner Bros. Pictures

Cast

All Critics (161) | Top Critics (34) | Fresh (124) | Rotten (38) | DVD (15)

It was at times incredibly slow and even poorly edited, and I've never understood the appeal of Renee Zelwegger.

November 7, 2008 Full Review Source: At the Movies | Comments (2)
At the Movies
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Ed Harris does it better than anybody.

November 7, 2008 Full Review Source: At the Movies | Comments (2)
At the Movies
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Dialogue, much of it lifted straight from Parker's novel, proves mostly engaging.

October 3, 2008 Full Review Source: Variety | Comment (1)
Variety
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Harris co-wrote, directed and stars in the film, which is filled with humor, action and clever turns.

October 3, 2008 Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | Comment
San Francisco Chronicle
Top Critic IconTop Critic

There's a refreshing vein of understated humor running throughout the production. It's neither forced nor unnatural and it keeps things from becoming too somber, even when the bullets start flying.

October 3, 2008 Full Review Source: ReelViews | Comment (1)
ReelViews
Top Critic IconTop Critic

From its first, mournful brass theme, Ed Harris's Appaloosa nails the look and feel of a classic Western. This is an old-style, laconically macho, six-shooting horse opera made with an obvious and unapologetic love of the genre.

October 3, 2008 Full Review Source: Houston Chronicle | Comment
Houston Chronicle
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A droll Western with an odd romantic triangle.

January 3, 2011 Full Review Source: sbs.com.au | Comment
sbs.com.au

Old-fashioned Western features great performances.

December 18, 2010 Full Review Source: Common Sense Media | Comment (1)
Common Sense Media

old-fashioned but simple and effective entertainment

December 17, 2009 Full Review Source: Draxblog Movie Reviews | Comment

A dusty, old-fashioned Western with a dusty, old-fashioned vibe. You can all but smell the saddle soap as the story unfolds.

July 27, 2009 Full Review Source: Times-Picayune | Comment
Times-Picayune

There's considerable pleasure in Appaloosa's respect for the undramatic. It doesn't go where you'd expect...

June 7, 2009 Full Review Source: eFilmCritic.com | Comment
eFilmCritic.com

True, the film is a little long, and it loses momentum at one stage, but generally speaking this is a most enjoyable return to what was once the cinema's most popular genre.

March 13, 2009 Full Review Source: At the Movies (Australia) | Comment
At the Movies (Australia)

Viggo Mortensen is a trustworthy ally in the project, an actor whose extraordinary range enables him to move his performance along the scale from 0 to 100 at will.

March 11, 2009 Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | Comment
Urban Cinefile

Wearing not only his actor's lawman hat, but also that of director and co-screenwriter, Ed Harris delivers a splendid film, filled with nuances, complexities and substance

March 11, 2009 Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | Comment (1)
Urban Cinefile

Brush away the dust and you'll find a sense of nostalgia and romanticism about lost American values and altered social hierarchies.

March 6, 2009 Full Review Source: Sydney Morning Herald | Comment
Sydney Morning Herald

Harris has made himself a reputation as a mark of quality...Like Pollack, Appaloosa has the best of both worlds, with Harris both in front of and behind the camera. [Blu-ray]

February 15, 2009 Full Review Source: Groucho Reviews | Comment

I give thanks for westerns. Every time they seem to be about to gasp their last, dusty breath, one comes along to give them a bit of renewed life. Bless it, the western genre will not die. Last year it was the excellent remake 3:10 to Yuma. This ye

February 1, 2009 Full Review Source: Fayetteville Free Weekly | Comment
Fayetteville Free Weekly

It is as though Harris could not decide whether he was making the classic western of his boyhood dreams, or merely a pastiche of it. The result, falling somewhere between the two, ends up being neither here nor there.

January 30, 2009 Full Review Source: Little White Lies | Comment
Little White Lies

Nothing new or groundbreaking here, just a lot of talented people coming together for a well-made and entertaining Western.

January 14, 2009 Full Review Source: Aisle Seat | Comment (1)
Aisle Seat

Appaloosa is more of a lyrical Western ballad than a raucous hoedown. (Blu-ray Edition)

January 13, 2009 Full Review Source: Movie Metropolis | Comment
Movie Metropolis

Crackling eccentric verbal wit as Harris' marshal seeks to 'button up this town tighter than a nun's corset' while overcome by Zellweger's irresistible flirty charms, because she 'chews her food nicely and even takes a bath before going to bed.

January 10, 2009 Full Review Source: NewsBlaze | Comment
NewsBlaze
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Appaloosa

Nice try but ultimately flawed and unsatisfying.

August 29, 2009
brooklynspo

Super Reviewer

A stunning cast can't really help this film, it looks good...damn good but the film is so poor really.The acting is very average, from such a top class cast I expected a much more epic feel, instead it feels almost like a TV special. Irons being the worst with a very panto acting turn, Viggo is so thin in the face he

December 30, 2008
phubbs1

Super Reviewer

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