The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford (2 Disc Edition) [2007] [DVD]

Beautifully shot and beautifully acted. Its up for debate in films like these whether the events portrayed are accurate. From what i've read about it it seems to be. The whole film is mesmerising from start to finish. The soundtrack alone is worth the watch.There's a deep story written here, not about what Jesse James had done to earn his reputation but more of a intricate exploration of a man riddled with depression and melancholy. So dont expect your typical western action film. This is not it.Brad Pitt's portrayal of a troubled man in this is incredible. As you look at him you can never tell whats hes thinking and it keeps you wondering all along. The film boasts a Stellar cast, Casey Affleck and Sam Rockwell drive the film mainly and they do an incredible job and their performances are up there along with Pitts. Everyone pulled out the stops. It's an incredible film all round and it should be up there sitting with the greatest films of all time.

Snappily titled with a running time of over two-and-a-half hours, ‘The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford’ is an American Western epic recounting James’s later life as America’s most wanted criminal post-Civil War years. Brad Pitt as James and Casey Affleck as Ford spotlight as titular characters, Ford at commencement having attached himself to James’s gang in a spirit of awe, inspired by the outlaw’s infamous exploits, particulars of which have engendered significant folklore disproportionate to what the man actually was. While there are elements of a traditional Western, viewers should not anticipate a gun-toting, action-packed account, the feature by-and-large grounding on James and Ford as personas, verging indeed occasionally on a psychoanalysis of the pair.Brad Pitt is a tremendous actor, anticipatedly delivering a tough, rugged performance as arch-bandit James. Swaggering, arrogant and domineering, James ought to be a repugnant character yet is often regarded State-side as a Robin Hood-type folk-hero - verily likeable notwithstanding transparent character afflictions laid bare in Pitt’s portrayal. Pitt conveys a profound sense of menace and caprice befitting of James, an historic figure with a long history of banditry, murder and general social deviance. As a physical representation, Pitt as James is flattering à l'extrème, the last seemingly bearing a sharp-featured countenance and correspondingly curious, conical-shaped head in contrast to Pitt’s florid looks; darkened here somewhat perhaps to channel a sense of threat. James, as depicted by Pitt, was no hero: avaricious, egocentric and self-centred to the nub but it is the nature of his death, besides a healthy smattering of romanticised Southern ‘Lost Cause’ ideology (James was an ex-Confederate guerrilla) that has secured James’s place in American lore as a contrast to Ford’s purported cowardice.At the outset apparently sporting yellow teeth, dark-rimmed, unblinking eyes and a ragged top-hat, Ford appears in every respect a par-excellence oddity, accentuated by a dewy-eyed, star-struck aura in the presence of James. As the film progresses, Affleck’s/Ford’s appearance seems to change proportionate to an empathetic character delineation; Ford increasingly disillusioned with James’s coercion, ruffian ways and murderous modus operandi. A peculiar connection transpires between the pair – related almost as a form of suppressed homosexuality – though Ford gradually detaches from James as plotlines unravel; any positive connection becoming increasingly one-sided. Affleck was Academy Award nominated for Best Supporting Actor on the back of his depiction, deservedly so in bestowing audiences a staging visitant to a manifold of emotions.Filmed in ‘old world’ colours, cinematographers took elaborate measures in utilising dark colours to accentuate a bleak, desolate feel to screenplay – blacks, browns and greys distinctly prominent throughout the film’s span. Rural Canada furnishes a desolate, dismal backdrop to what is a fairly dingy, monotonous, overlong story culminating in a very unextraordinary assassination – Ford shooting James through the back of the head as he dusted a hanging picture. One humdrum train robbery excepted, The Assassination of Jesse James is slower than a week in jail; bereft of action sequences and preferring instead to scrutinise the strange developing relationship between James and Ford. Robust performances from Pitt and Affleck retain a measure of interest though the script is entirely over-reliant on James’s volatile, erratic disposition in building to an essentially anti-climactic, unremarkable murder. Silence can indeed be deafening, one of the film’s stronger components conducive to inciting tension - dialogue by-and-large sporadic or stifled.Perhaps more repugnant than Ford’s shooting of James – whose killing was entirely merited – was Ford’s desire for credit and fame, ghoulishly recreating the living room shooting sequence in theatres across America following James’s killing. Presenting Ford as a hero would be stretching reality somewhat, nevertheless James was plainly a dangerous man few could be confident of overcoming in an equitable shoot-out, but it remains unclear on conclusion of the tale whether Ford’s motives were entirely self-centred or for ‘the wider good’. In laying down his sidearms prior to being shot, James somehow partly meets criteria of martyrdom, almost inviting (or expecting) his own murder as atonement for his own numerous crimes. Ford was evidently an opportunist clambering for fame, something of a desperado but also, as evinced by Affleck’s portrayal, a fragile, sensitive individual who clearly wanted to be loved, plainly acutely affected by public reaction to his shooting of James.Both in truth emerge reputation intact or enhanced from the feature: James redeeming prior improprieties to an extent in his ‘little brother’ treatment of Ford and opening his home to his assailant; Ford both in ridding society of a potent menace but ultimately coming to his senses in displaying very human traits of regret in killing an iconic criminal who nonetheless regarded him as a friend. As a Western, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is a break from the norm, too slow and tedious for this particular reviewer but perhaps appealing to those who revel in studies of psychology or methodical building of suspense in film.

One advantage of the restrictions imposed by Covid-19 is that I finally found time to watch this film. Anyone hoping for a fast pace, shoot-em-up western, that might be thought to be associated with the story of Jesse James, is going to be disappointed. This is a beautifully crafted film about the perils of fame and the desire to obtain it. It is visually stunning, superbly acted with a haunting score. It is well worth three hours of your time.

Very slow and 'elegiac', which kind of fits the pace of the times, but it's also a meaningless visual tone poem in some ways, rather like a latter-period Terrence Malick film. Looks beautiful, as you'd expect from Maestro Deakins, and the actors do a really solid job, but where, oh where is the script? I couldn't find one and I had to sit through nearly 3 hours of this mess in search of it.

As a filmmaker you can imagine my joy with filming an intimate wedding recently, with one of the lead actors in this film attending, and how happy he was spending the weekend talking to me about how it was made. Apparently all visual effects were created in camera, by the maestro Mr Deakins. A lot were imagined on the day, the director pushing Deakins to think outside the box, create new interesting styles. For instance the train robbery was only lit by the train itself, from underneath, and Deakins created a cream with the make up artists that added an extra 'stop' of lightness to the actors faces ... as a filmmaker you truly appreciate the amount of work that has gone into this, behind the camera. Also the acting is brilliant. To carry that western, late 1800's voice with such effortlessness. Loved it. Watch on the biggest screen possible and let it wash over you.

Poor fairytale, worse than the old John Wayne films they are peddling on Amazon. Slow as a carthorse and like the horse it leaves a pile of it.

Really poor asting . Didn't touch me like bonnie and clyde. Very much a let down for me I will delete from my collection

If you haven't already seen this I urge you to make time to do so. I could spool off superlatives all night and still not come close to conveying how good this film is. You simply have to watch it to understand. A truly exceptional piece of work and entirely in a class of its own.