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Ed Harris steps behind the camera for the first time since his excellent biopic POLLACK for this screen adaptation of Robert B. Parker’s Western novel. This tale of honor and camaraderie is a traditional oater in its tone. While it features some flares of modern frankness, the story never feels like it steps outside of the 1880s era. Fans of Westerns will be reminded of films like MY DARLING CLEMENTINE. Audiences not in love with the genre will find an engaging character piece about two men who have formed a uniquely close bond under life and death situations.

Randall Bragg (Jeremy Irons, REVERSAL OF FORTUNE) is a miner who writes his own rules for himself and his men in the New Mexico town of Appaloosa. After murdering the marshal, the town leaders turn to lawman-for-hire Virgil Cole (Harris) and his partner Everett Hitch (Viggo Mortensen, A HISTORY OF VIOLENCE). Cole’s deal is easy, you turn over the town to him and he’ll bring order to it. Before the ink on his contract dries, Cole has gunned down two of Bragg’s men for pissing on the floor of the saloon. The showdown of wills between Bragg and Cole soon begins. Then Allie French (Renee Zellweger, BRIDGET JONES’S DIARY) walks into town and fires buckshot right into Cole’s heart.

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