A Western? With Ed Harris and Viggo Mortensen? And throw in Jeremy Irons as the cold-blooded bad guy they have to bring down? Are you kidding me? If I had to come up with a dream Western, I couldn’t have come up with a better cast. (For the moment, I’m going to ignore the presence of Renee Zellweger, who will, no doubt, play a fiery, independent woman in a man’s world, or some other silly Renee Zellweger nonsense like that.) The film is scheduled for an October 3, 2008 release, but chances are you’re not going to find it at your local cinema. Despite quality production values, this has all the markings of a limited theatrical run. I hope I’m wrong.

Western drama reteams Harris and Mortensen, who worked together on New Line’s A History of Violence. The story is adapted from Robert B. Parker’s novel of the same name, centered on a pair of friends hired to protect a lawless town suffering at the hands of a renegade rancher. The arrival of an attractive widow disrupts their plans.

Starring Viggo Mortensen, Renée Zellweger, Jeremy Irons, Ed Harris, Lance Henriksen, and Rex Linn. Ed Harris directs.

more “Appaloosa” images at our movie gallery