Appaloosa review

Decent Western hamstrung by an unwelcome female co-star

Why you can trust GamesRadar+ Our experts review games, movies and tech over countless hours, so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about our reviews policy.

Despite fierce audience indifference, Ed Harris is the latest Hollywood player to tackle the western genre. He co-wrote, directed and stars in this adap of Robert B Parker’s novel about travelling marshals Cole (Harris) and Hitch (Viggo Mortensen), hired to take down psycho-rancher Randall Bragg (Jeremy Irons) and his gang of reprobates.

The laid-back lawmen supply the main pleasures, but Appaloosa trips up when Renee Zellweger’s simpering widow arrives and threatens to break their loyalty chains. It’s a shame the love-troika detracts from the film’s most intriguing theme: Cole’s sociopathic inclination to overstep his remit, a topic whose modern-day parallels offer more dramatic reward than Zellweger’s gaudy interloper.

More info

Available platformsMovie
Less

The Total Film team are made up of the finest minds in all of film journalism. They are: Editor Jane Crowther, Deputy Editor Matt Maytum, Reviews Ed Matthew Leyland, News Editor Jordan Farley, and Online Editor Emily Murray. Expect exclusive news, reviews, features, and more from the team behind the smarter movie magazine.