From All Movie Guide: Buried at the center of many classic Westerns is a love story between grown men. My Darling Clementine, Rio Bravo, and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid are just some of the beloved oaters that are as much about men's loyalty and companionship as they are about gunslinging. Appaloosa fits snugly into that venerable tradition.

Director and co-screenwriter Ed Harris plays Virgil Cole, a lawman for hire who travels the Wild West with his longtime deputy, the eight-gauge-toting Everett Hitch (Viggo Mortensen). The title town hires the duo after politically connected rancher Randall Bragg (Jeremy Irons) guns down the local sheriff. The situations and the settings of Appaloosa might be very familiar, but the close relationship between the two leads is uncommonly specific. Their friendship, formed by years of surviving potentially fatal battles together, runs deep. This bond is expressed through sly grins, kidding words, and their mutual sense of professionalism. Let's be clear, Ed Harr...

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