Ed Harris’ directorial sophomore project Appaloosa is an excellent example of what a popcorn movie should be. It is fairly light when it comes to meaning and importance but it sure is a lot of fun with some good action and its fair share of well timed humour. In the long run it will not be the most memorable movie but it was fun and you could definitely do a lot worse.

Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen are Virgil and Everett, two law men who provide their services to towns for a cost. They arrive in the small town of Appaloosa to take up the mantle of sheriff and deputy after Bragg played by Jeremy Irons guns down the previous sheriff and deputies. Every thing seems to be going as planned, Virgil and Everett gun down a few of Bragg’s men and get ready for the confrontation with Bragg himself. Then Rene Zellweger at Allison arrives on the train and catches the attention of both Virgil and Everett. What we are left with is the eventual arrest and confrontation between Bragg, his hired henchmen, Virgil and Everett and the possible disagreement between Virgil and Everett.

The whole romance triangle could have played out in the staid standard way but Harris and the script manage to throw in enough twists that you won’t see coming to Appaloosa and charming and fun western. The action is well done and are combined with a good sense of humour. It was a nice joy to catch something a bit lighter and fun in my dark genre filled schedule here at TIFF.

As one final comment on Appaloosa, it was great to see Lance Henriksen and Timothy Spall show up in smaller supporting roles.