Plot: Tough friends and partners Virgil Cole (Ed Harris) and Everett Hitch (Viggo Mortensen) arrive in the town of Appaloosa and they are hired as Marshal and Deputy, respectively, by the local politicians with absolute power to rule the city. In their first assignment, they face the gang of the powerful rancher Randall Bragg (Jeremy Irons), who had killed Marshal Jack Bell (Robert Jauregui) and his two Deputies, and they killed three gunmen. When refined piano player Allison French (Renée Zellweger) arrives in Appaloosa, she stays close to the needy Virgil and they decide to live together. Meanwhile, one employee of Bragg offers to testify against his boss, and Virgil and Everett bring him to court, where he is sentenced to death by hanging. While transporting Bragg in the train to be executed, two gunmen abduct Allison to force Virgil to release Bragg. Bragg escapes with his men and Allison through the desert, with Virgil and Everett on their tails.
Alternative Plot: Virgil Cole (Ed Harris) and his longtime friend and partner Everett Hitch (Viggo Mortensen) travel the 1880s Southwest, bringing justice to lawless towns desperate enough to hire them. In the mining town of Appaloosa, malevolent rancher Randall Bragg and his cronies ride roughshod over the frightened citizens. As Cole and Hitch work to end Bragg's reign of terror, an unconventional widow (Renee Zellweger) arrives, complicating the job and threatening their bond.
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