Appaloosa

After the recent surge in westerns and western-themed films in 2007 (3:10 To Yuma, The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, No Country For Old Men), I'm glad that Appaloosa stepped up and continued the trend. Co-writer, producer, director, and star Ed Harris makes his love for the genre clear to the audience as he treats us to a decent western that suffers mostly from Renee Zellweger's performance.

Appaloosa
Writer/Director: Ed Harris
Starring: Ed Harris, Viggo Mortensen, Renee Zellweger


Great characters are one of the reasons I love movies so much. I think it's most noticeable when these types of characters appear in westerns (more than other genres) because they're contrasted with such stark backgrounds and relatively simple storylines, making it easier to showcase their relationships with other characters on screen. Such is the case with Appaloosa, a movie that rides heavily on the Lonesome Dove-esque dynamic between its two main characters, lawmen solidly portrayed by Harris and Mortensen (reunited on screen after A History of Violence). The two play cowboys who ride from town to town getting paid to reclaim them for townspeople who are terrorized by gangs and outlaws. Virgil Cole and Everett Hitch are the best in the business, and they've got the track record to prove it. They've been riding together for a while, much like another cowboy duo, and there is an unspoken comraderie and smoothness to their relationship that only years on the American frontier could cultivate. When the two stumble into the town of Appaloosa, they discover this job would be no different than any other they've completed...or would it? As they hunt an outlaw who killed a city marshall, Cole falls for Annie French (Zellweger), the new woman in town. Can our three heroes stay alive long enough to make a home in Appaloosa, or will the evil Bragg and his men put a stop to their plans?


It was kind of tough to pull for Ed Harris after he repeatedly goes back to Zellweger's character after she cheats on him constantly. I wanted to reach up to the screen and smack some sense into his five o'clock shadow; it was really quite frustrating. She even tries to make a move on Hitch, her man's best friend! (Who does that?) Hitch, like an honest cowboy, puts a stop to her funny business and then she tries to blame it on him later. How are we supposed to like a character like that? (Hint - I didn't.) She was definitely the weak link of the cast; even Bragg, the bad guy, was really cool because he was played by Jeremy Irons, who has never disappointed me in anything I've seen him in. Let me stop right now and say this movie is no Tombstone (my favorite western and arguably the best one in the last 20 years), but it takes some cues from that film and succeeds in doing so. The relationship between Cole and Hitch is reminiscient of that of Wyatt Earp and Doc Holliday (with Mortensen turning in a performance that clearly aspires to Kilmer-ish levels of talent), and the Bragg and his gang and their antics mirror those of Curly Bill and the Cowboys from the aforementioned classic.


(Spoilers ahead. But most of you are never going to see the movie anyway.)

The final scene was worth the wait - although the movie wasn't really that long, it felt much longer due to some scenes that stretched on a little too long. Everett Hitch has finally challenged Bragg (once again, like Tombstone) to a gunfight in the streets. It's referenced many times in the movie that Cole is faster on the draw than Hitch, so Hitch begs Cole not to help him and to allow him to fight this one battle on his own. Hitch knows that this is a defining moment for him - either it will prove that he can hang with the best of them or he'll die knowing he was never good enough. Either way, he's ready to accept his fate and faces off against Bragg in the middle of the town. Of course, he guns down the villain, giving him the ultimate sense of accomplishment and opening up his life for countless opportunities. This is, in effect, an awakening for Everett Hitch, and his time of riding Virgil Cole's coattails has past. It's time to move on with his life, so he rides away from his friend for (possibly) the last time. It was a great show of friendship on Cole's part to actually grant that wish to his friend and let him test his own manhood instead of ensuring Hitch's survival by killing Bragg in the dual. A moving scene, and a great ending to a cool western.


I'd definitely recommend Appaloosa to any fan of the genre. It's got all the great conventions that you've come to love and some good acting holds together the bits that don't work. Occasional movie watchers might be bored with it, but movies like this are the bread and butter of the old Western Wednesday crew. (Oh yeah, a bit of trivia - Diane Lane was signed on to play Zellweger's role, but had to drop out when the movie got stalled in production. Man, you have no idea how much I wish that had panned out.) Until next time...

Eagle Eye

When I first heard about the concept for this movie, I instantly knew that I would A.) see it as soon as I could and B.) like it a lot. Before you read this, you should probably know that I'm automatically biased in favor of almost everyone involved with this film. Here's the rundown: an idea by Spielberg (he's freakin' Spielberg), produced by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (writers of Transformers, JJ Abram's upcoming Star Trek, MI:3, and co-creators of "Fringe"), starring Shia LaBeouf (awesome) and Michelle Monaghan (if you haven't seen Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, do it now), and directed by DJ Caruso (Disturbia and the upcoming Y: The Last Man trilogy). I don't know about you, but that pretty much does it for me.

Eagle Eye
Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Michelle Monaghan, Billy Bob Thorton, Rosario Dawson
Director: DJ Caruso


Let's get one thing straight - I'm tired of people saying how ridiculous and unbelievable this movie is and putting it in a negative light because of it. If you saw the trailer, you knew exactly how ridiculous it would be, and you know exactly what type of entertainment you're going to see. I put Eagle Eye in the "Michael Bay" category of action movies. Everyone loves to hate them because it makes them seem too conformist if they actually enjoy themselves while watching it. Just because a movie doesn't have the most original idea or perfect execution doesn't mean it's not enjoyable. And it's not like you're watching Death Race here - this movie (along with most of Bay's films) do deal with some complex issues, however disguised they may be by the explosions along the way. They're action films for people who want a little more than JUST the action; they don't give MUCH more, I'll grant you that, but they definitely deliver on multiple levels.

Instead of telling you the plot, just watch this trailer to get the idea.




LaBeouf shows once again that he's completely capable of handling himself in front of the camera, and dusts himself off after the debacle that was Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Jerry Shaw still has the "slacker" aspects to the character that LeBeouf emulates so well, but I for one would like to see him stretch his acting abilities into other realms. I think it would be a good test for him to play against typecast and maybe play a villain or a vampire or something next time around (after Transformers 2, of course). There were some heartfelt moments in the beginning of this movie where I gained more appreciation for Shia's acting. And I think Michelle Monaghan is an under-used actress who needs a better agent; there are plenty of roles she could play and she doesn't even have anything listed as "in development" on her IMDB page.


Director DJ Caruso does everything he can to keep the movie plowing through its standard plot, but does a good job keeping the pace high so we barely have time to realize it. The movie had a cool look to it, which I guess should be attributed to the production designer and perhaps the cinematographer, where most scenes had a slight metallic blue hue to it (seen above), giving a subconscious implication that technology is everywhere to compliment the undertones of the film.


While the two stars did everything they could to keep the movie going, it couldn't just concentrate on them. A nice supporting cast, including Rosario Dawson, Billy Bob Thorton, Ethan Embry, and Michael Chiklis all chipped in to round out the plot a little bit. Thorton and Chiklis were easily the most believable in their respective roles, while Dawson and Embry seemed a little out of place to me (you can't blame Rosario, though - her decision to star in Eagle Eye over Kevin Smith's newest comedy Zack and Miri Make a Porno was undoubtedly a steadier financial move).


Let's talk for a second about plausibility. The whole concept, like many before it, involves technology becoming so powerful that it takes control of our lives in a way that we can't foresee. Obviously we're not breaking new ground with this material; the story has been told thousands of times before, dating back to the myths of Prometheus bestowing fire on humans and more recently in films like Terminator and Live Free or Die Hard. The technological things that happen in this movie (tracking by cell phones even when turned off, utilizing security cameras in the most obscure places, even piecing together conversations through vibrations in a coffee mug when there is no other microphone to pick up the sound) are not all that far-fetched. The reasoning behind all these things being used, however, can definitely be called into question.

(Spoiler warning - reading further will ruin the movie if you haven't seen it yet.)

First off, the movie tries to keep you in the dark with who the voice is on the other side of the phone. If you've seen any of these kinds of movies before, it's fairly easy to assume that the government is involved in some way. Especially with Billy Bob and Rosario running around trying to find the answers, it's kind of a dead giveaway that they simply don't have the clearance to know the "shocking" truth. I think they kind of played this whole aspect up a little too much - it's not crazy to think that a computer that can track your every move based off past purchases and social networking profiles, so it doesn't really require that much of a "big reveal."


The thing about the movie that didn't make sense to me was Rachel Holloman's involvement. Think about it. She really didn't need to be there. Unless her son was the ONLY one playing the trumpet and the trumpet specifically was the ONLY instrument that could generate the exact sonic trigger necessary to detonate the crystal explosive at the Kennedy Center, her entire character was practically irrelevant. I'm not saying that Monaghan didn't do a good job, I'm just suggesting that the writers (there WERE like four of them) probably could have found a better way to justify her character's involvement with the story. Jerry's character is completely justifiable because he is the only one who could have unlocked the system and allowed the computer's plan to work since his twin was the one who put a bio-lock on to foil her plans (how convienient that he has a twin, huh?). But it seemed to me as if the writers wrote the whole movie around Jerry's character and then, as an afterthought, figured that he needed a girl running with him the whole time.

Also, the only other thing that kind of upset me (aside from the blatant product placement that I've come to accept) was that Jerry survived those gunshots at the end. Those were trained Secret Service agents that shot him multiple times, and not only does he survive, he's (seemingly) not reprimanded for firing shots off in such close proximity to all the major members of the cabinet? They probably all shouldn't be in one room to begin with, but that's a different story. Anyway, I thought the movie would have been much better had his character died - it would have shown that Jerry grew up into the hero that his brother was and given his character redemption from years of living in Ethan's shadow. It would have completed the arc of the character (from drop-out downer to patriotic hero) perfectly. The filmmakers instead chose to have Jerry and Rachel get together at the end, undercutting the singular strength of her character (the single mother "I'm going to do this myself" aspect) by having her rely on him to fill the role as the man who never lets her down.

Overall, as I'm sure you gathered by now, I enjoyed Eagle Eye quite a bit. It's easy to put plot holes and script problems behind you when you've got such a cool movie to watch. While it's not anything that I'd choose to own, it's definitely a nice action movie that meets its goals - entertainment with a flash of something more. Until next time...

Week 2 - Morgan Freeman

This man needs no introduction. One of the most accomplished actors of his generation, Morgan Freeman has captured the hearts of young and old alike by mixing award-winning performances (Million Dollar Baby) with just plain fun roles in "lower esteemed" movies (Lucky Number Slevin, Wanted).

Freeman has earned his stripes, appearing in over 53 films since 1980. His work spans genres, including westerns (Unforgiven), drama (Gone Baby Gone), thrillers (Sum of All Fears), and comic book films (Batman Begins, The Dark Knight). Freeman's voice is instantly recognizable, and it up there with James Earl Jones and Don LaFontaine among my "best movie related voices of all time" list.

My favorite performance is an easy decision. Even with his outstanding track record, in my opinion nothing comes close to Morgan Freeman in The Shawshank Redemption. The combination of narration and acting makes for a performance so moving it will nearly bring you to tears. The ending (which I won't ruin) is far and away my favorite ending of a movie, ever. But the whole thing would have been different if Freeman hadn't have played Red with such a mixture of reserved contentment and childlike anticipation.

After recovering from his recent car accident, he will be seen in a few high-profile projects. The Human Factor (directed by Eastwood), where he will be playing Nelson Mandela; and one that I've never heard of called Thick As Thieves, where he plays an old thief who calls Antonio Banderas in to help him with one last job should both be out before the end of 2009.

Actor/Actress of the Week

Hello all. I've decided to start up this weekly column just to get some more activity going here at the site. Each week I will (hopefully) pick an actor or actress and link to their filmography. I'll tell you why I like them, what my favorite performance of theirs is, and give you a little insight as to what projects they've got coming out in the future. So without further delay...

Week 1 (September 14th, 2008): Clint Eastwood


Aside from being one of the most iconic actors of all time, Eastwood has made a name for himself as an A-list Hollywood director over the years (Mystic River is one of my favorite films). He's also been known to compose music for some of his movies and even cleaned up a small California town by becoming Mayor in the late 80's. He is the epitome of masculinity in film and almost singlehandedly created the archetypes of the rogue cop and the antihero cowboy.

My favorite Eastwood performance can be found in the fourth Dirty Harry film Sudden Impact, in which he drops his most famous line "Go ahead...make my day." The whole performance is especially manly and really defines Eastwood's personality for me. I like to think that the way he acted in that film is the way he acts on a daily basis.



A few projects can be found on the horizon for the living legend. He recently directed Angelina Jolie in the thriller/drama Changeling, set to come out on Halloween of this year. He's also directing and starring in the upcoming Gran Torino (not a Dirty Harry film, as previously speculated) and directing The Human Factor, a film about Nelson Mandela starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon. Until next time...