From KCRW in Santa Monica, this is The Treatment.

Welcome to The Treatment. I'm Elvis Mitchell. You can also hear the show at KCRW.com.

As an actor, Ed Harris has worked with directors from Ron Howard to Alex Cox to David Kronenberg.

As a director, he's guided Marsha Gay-Harton to an Oscar for his film 2000s Pollock.

In Appaloosa, his second film as a director, he visits Robert B. Parker's version of the Old West.

Ed, thanks so much for being here.

It's a pleasure. Thanks for having me.

I've got to say, one of the things I liked so much about the film is the formal behavior

of all the characters, and I wonder if that was one of the things that drew to the source material

and to adapting it as a film as well. I think that's part of it. I had this book with me

on a vacation and just had brought it along.

When I read the first few scenes between these two guys, the character I play and Vigo plays,

I didn't even finish the book and I called up my agent and said, you know, see if this is available,

because I just loved their way of being together. I love their relationship. I love their

unspoken, obvious trust and

affection for one another. And I think part of that, a big part of that was the dialogue that Parker

wrote, you know, 85% probably of the dialogue in the film is right out of the book. And it does have

a certain formality to it, which I think actually is one of the things that gives the thing it's humor, you know. There's a way they are with each other, whether they're killing somebody or riding out in the middle of nowhere, you know. The thing about, like about these characters is they deal with stuff. In other words, they don't need to go see the shrink, you know, or the psychotherapist. They, if they have a problem, they deal with it.

You know, they don't carry burdens on their shoulders.

They kind of try to get it out.

I mean, the thing about Cole, the character I play, is that he's very naive in a way,

even though he's been surviving as a lawman for years, particularly with women.

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