The Stranger Suggests
Film
'Appaloosa'
If you can squint at its moral problems (rogue Apaches from central casting circa 1966, a female lead who is a Pandora's box of fucked-up gender politics), Appaloosa is a pleasurable western—with none of that newfangled deconstructionist-western nonsense. Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen are laconic guns-for-hire who ride the plains and mete out justice; Jeremy Irons plays the silver-tongued (and baggy-faced) villain. Objectively, the film is a bucket of clichés, but Appaloosa keeps a light touch. It feels smooth, familiar, warm. (See movie times, www.thestranger.com, for details.)
BRENDAN KILEY
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