The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Everyone in 1880s America knows Jesse James. He?s the nation?s most notorious criminal, hunted by the law in 10 states. He?s also the land?s greatest hero, lauded as a Robin Hood by the public. Robert Ford? No one knows him. Not yet. But the ambitious 19-year-old aims to change that. He?ll befriend Jesse, ride with his gang. And if that doesn?t bring Ford fame, he?ll find a deadlier way. Friendship becomes rivalry and the quest for fame becomes obsession in this virile epic produced in part by Ridley Scott and featuring gripping portrayals by Brad Pitt (winner of the Venice Film Festival Best Actor Award) as Jesse and Casey Affleck as the youth drawn closer to his goal?and farther from his own humanity.
Of all the movies made about or glancingly involving the 19th-century outlaw Jesse Woodson James, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is the most reflective, most ambitious, most intricately fascinating, and indisputably most beautiful. Based on the novel of the same name by Ron Hansen, it picks up James late in his career, a few hours before his final train robbery, then covers the slow catastrophe of the gang's breakup over the next seven months even as the boss himself settles into an approximation of genteel retirement. But in another sense all of the movie is later than that. The very title assumes the audience's familiarity with James as a figure out of history and legend, and our awareness that he was--will be--murdered in his parlor one quiet afternoon by a backshooting crony. The film--only the second to be made by New Zealand?born writer-director Andrew Dominik--reminds us that Dominik's debut film, Chopper (2000), was the cunningly off-kilter portrait of another real-life criminal psychopath who became a kind of rock star to his society. The Jesse James of this telling is no Robin Hood robbing the rich to give to the poor, and that train robbery we witness is punctuated by acts of gratuitous brutality, not gallantry. Nineteen-year-old Bob Ford (Casey Affleck) seeks to join the James gang out of hero worship stoked by the dime novels he secretes under his bed, but his glam hero (Brad Pitt) is a monster who takes private glee in infecting his accomplices with his own paranoia, then murdering them for it. In the careful orchestration of James's final moments, there's even a hint that he takes satisfaction in his own demise. Affleck and Pitt (who co-produced with Ridley Scott, among others) are mesmerizing in the title roles, but the movie is enriched by an exceptional supporting cast: Sam Shepard as Jesse's older, more stable brother Frank; Sam Rockwell as Bob Ford's own brother Charlie, whose post-assassination descent into madness is astonishing to behold; Paul Schneider, Garret Dillahunt, and Jeremy Renner as three variously doomed gang members; and Mary-Louise Parker, who as Jesse's wife Zee has few lines yet manages with looks and body language to invoke a wellnigh-novelistic backstory for herself. There are also electrifying cameos by James Carville, doing solid actorly work as the governor of Missouri; Ted Levine, as a lawman of antic spirit; and Nick Cave, composer of the film's score (with Warren Ellis) and screenwriter of the Aussie "Western" The Proposition, suddenly towering over a late scene to perform the folk song that set the terms for the book and movie's title. Still, the real costar is Roger Deakins, probably the finest cinematographer at work today. The landscapes of the movie (mostly in Alberta and Manitoba) will linger in the memory as long as the distinctive faces, and we seem to feel the sting of its snows on our cheeks. Interior scenes are equally persuasive. Few Westerns have conveyed so tangibly the bleakness and austerity of the spaces people of the frontier called home, and sought in vain to warm with human spirit. --Richard T. Jameson
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The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Reviews
In the style of the great Seventies films that studied character and motivation rather than the number of times a gun was fired, this is a thoughtful meditation.
This film also has much to say about the power of legend and the amorphous concept of heroism. Themes that ring as true today as they probably did at the time.
Expertly shot and expansive in its visual range, I REALLY wish I'd been able to see this on the big screen.
One day, there will be a 2000s Western Film Festival which tours the world, allowing discerning viewers to see how the genre was taken forward at the beginning of the new century. This may include 'Hidalgo', '3:10 To Yuma', the ill-fated 'Alamo' and 'September Dawn'.
'The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford' will tower above all...
Impressive! A well crafted, technically well worked movie regarding the main points great cinematographers care about: 1)casting,2)wardrobe design,3)adapted screenplay and 4) and above all, the great photography! See available stills. (I agree a lot with Grady Harp's review posted here).
No offense towards Brad Pitt's winning as best actor(Venice Film Festival-2009), but an award in acting should go to the excellent portrayal of the coward Robert Ford by Casey Affleck(Ben Affleck's brother). You almost feel the pain and guilt!
This movie would have been much, much better, had the filmmakers not opted for a narration that was obviously intended to sound (exactly) like David McCullough narrating a historical documentary. The effect was eerie, as the narrator nearly succeeded in sounding like McCullough himself, yet was obviously not the historian. Rather than enhancing the experience, this imitation was very annoying and distracting.
If you like character studies and beautiful movies, then this film is for you. If you like action at breakneck speeds with no thought to plot or depth, then move along and peddle your wares elsewhere. And I'm not talking about ALL action movies. I like action movies. But I watch them with the same emotional attachment as I have to my Wii--entertaining and fluffy, but I'm not invested one way or the other. Very occasionally a movie comes along that so impresses me with its craftmanship I am awestruck. This is one of those movies.
For those of you said something along the lines of "Brad Pitt sucked" then you were not paying attention. His performance is nothing short of amazing. He is menacing and threatening using almost no physicality at all. Even his voice is evenly modulated. But his face and his eyes...wow. Chills. And Casey Affleck is a revelation in this film. Not to mention some of the most beautiful cinematography I've ever seen.
If you liked No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood, then I think you'll like this too. If you liked Transformers and Crank, then don't bother.
This movie was not what I expected at all. It is very slow-paced. Maybe I just didn't "get" it, but I found it extremely boring and didn't even finish the movie. I'm sorry I added it to my wish list! I thought after hearing the very positive reviews and seeing who was in the cast that it would be worth my time, but I was wrong. Don't waste your time watching this film!
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