Appaloosa:

Ed Harris' adaptation of Appaloosa (Warner Bros. - Sept. 19) co-starring Viggo Mortensen and Renee Zellwegger is a fairly decent, very conventional take on the Western genre compared some of last year's offerings. Like Ritchie's movie, it takes some time to get going, as much of the first half of the movie takes place in the type of lawless town we've seen in so many other movies and on "Deadwood," and Harris and Mortensen are the lawmen who arrive to clean the town up. Zellwegger is the weak link, playing the same smirking know-it-all she seems to be playing in every other recent movie, and it's not until the movie leaves town and gets away from the love triangle aspect of the story when it starts getting interesting. While Harris and Mortensen are both as good as always, it's Jeremy Irons as the bad guy who steals the movie and who is especially menacing when he turns over a new leaf and becomes the town's benevolent benefactor. This isn't a big shoot 'em up Western, but there are a couple of tense stand-offs that should appease those looking for them.

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