'Appaloosa:' A western like they used to make

It's not a great Western, but "Appaloosa" is the only Western in town. It's also one of the rarest of modern movies: a "routine" Western.

Fans of the genre should give thanks that, for once, the moviemakers haven't turned cowboys into psychotic nut cases to "update" the genre.

With a script co-written by director Ed Harris and based on the no-nonsense novel by Robert B. Parker, "Appaloosa" does, however, sneak in wry, deadpan humor that lets us know we're getting the traditional Western with a hint of satire.

For example, the "professional lawman" who is hired to clean up the New Mexico mining town of Appaloosa points out, in a droll monotone: "I don't kill people for a living. I enforce the law. Killing is sometimes a byproduct."

Then, there's the familiar scene when the tough guy orders something like a soda pop rather than whiskey. (You know he's a fast draw if he has the nerve to do that.)

"It's hard to like a man who doesn't drink a little," one hombre comments.

"Hard, but not impossible," the pop drinker replies.

There is enough killing to meet the genre's needs, but the movie is paced slowly. The gunfire has a popping noise that is unlike most Westerns; supposedly, it's meant to be realistic.

Commenting on the brevity of one particular gunfight, Viggo Morensen, as the laconic partner Everett Hitch, says, "That's because these folks know how to shoot."

Short. Direct. No nonsense. Settle things the Western way and move on. This is the kind of movie many Americans grew up on, the kind starring the American legends who once represented the way we were seen around the world.

One of the biggest flops of the past year was "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" because it self-consciously set out to destroy the legend in favor of a modern interpretation. No one wants that. More successful was last year's remake of "3:10 to Yuma." It preserved the basic tension of a people settling a wild country.

In "Appaloosa," Virgil Cole, the professional killer played by Harris, warns his partner Everett that he has feelings, and "feelings get you killed."

It is feelings that cause the trouble when a widow named Allison French arrives in town and takes up with the inexperienced Virgil, who says he knows nothing about women "except squaws and whores." He plans to build a house for her at the end of main street, but there are fleeting glances between the widow and Everett. We've got a triangle here.

Essentially, "Appaloosa" is a story about friendship between men, how it grows and is sustained. Virgil and Everett have been gunslinging buddies for years. These unflappable men of the West wouldn't know how to live any other way than on the edge. The widow has other ideas.

Renee Zellweger plays the rare woman who is the center of conflict in a Western. She's not so much miscast as she is unusual for the role. She's not charming or particularly seductive. She knows she doesn't have to be.

The more conventional conflict is between the hired duo and the gang of thugs bossed by unscrupulous rancher Randall Bragg, played with elegant British verve by Jeremy Irons. In the very first scene, his boys kill the town's lawman and deputy, drawing a line in the sand. We know we're not going home until he gets his.

This is the first film directed by Harris since his excellent "Pollock" (2000), the biography of artist Jackson Pollock that won a supporting-actress Oscar for Marcia Gay Harden. It also marks a reunion with Mortensen, his co-star in the memorable "A History of Violence" (2005).

This entertaining addition to the genre shows that we don't really need an epic; an old-fashioned Western will do just fine.

Mal Vincent, (757) 446-2347, mal.vincent@pilotonline.com