Review of I Shot Jesse James (1949) by Matt K — 16 Mar 2009

There are three important things to note with this one: 1.) this marks the directorial debut of Sam Fuller, 2.) it was shot in 10 days and consequently makes anything I've done in 10 months look even worse in comparison and 3.

) this was a western I did not despise with every bone in my body (no love for westerns from me, in case you couldn't tell). That's about all that really matters because this is a fairly middle-of-the-road film that finds our protagonist wrestling with the newfound infamy that comes when you murder Jesse James (I imagine it is akin to going on a date with Paula Abdul, for lack of a much better analogy).

He was a member of the James' Gang, shot the leader in the back while he was adjusting a painting on the wall and hoped to use the reward money to marry his girlfriend. Instead, our hero is starring in a play that re-enacts his dubious murder of James (which does not sit well with him since he had doubts ever since pulling the trigger), his girlfriend hates him and he tries to find gold while avoiding the judicial wrath of his girl's other lover.

Eh... Fame and mental dilemmas are all fine and dandy but wow, not when your protagonist spends the majority of the movie squinting in pain as if he was trying to find indigestion medicine on a crowded shelf in a Wal-Mart.

Decent popcorn stuff and a great debut for one of the most under-appreciated directors working along the B-movie route.