Review of The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) by Chads. — 09 Feb 2008

In "Almost Famous", the late rock critic and founder of Creem magazine, Lester Bangs(Phillip Seymour Hoffman), advises his young protege to not make friends with the rock stars. William Miller(Patrick Fugit) doesn't heed his mentor's sage warning and gets chummy with lead guitarist Russell Hammond(Billy Crudup) of Stillwater.

The Jesse James memorabilia that Robert(Casey Affleck) collects in his shoebox is the equivalent of the posters that hang on the budding rock critic's wall. Their idols, for the time being, exist only in the abstract.

Although he doesn't visit his own home, the famous gunslinger's sudden appearance at the house of Wood Hite(Jeremy Renner) does echo Russell's surprise visit to the Miller residence at the end of the Cameron Crowe memoir.

Bangs had told William to "be honest, and unmerciful" if he wanted to be a true friend. This is exactly what Robert does when he recreates his execution of Jesse James for the stage. Since "The Assasination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" plays like "Good Fellas"(the DeNiro character goes after all the airport heist participants just like how Jesse James eliminates his train robbery cohorts) more than any film that John Ford ever directed, it makes perfect sense that Robert shoots Jesse in the back.

The Scorsese film informs us that gangsters are often shot by those closest to them. Since Jesse is Robert's friend(well, sort of; my ass-talkin' theory isn't airtight), he has the authority to kill.

The staged play is equivalent to the article William writes about Stillwater. They're both non-fiction pieces; official documents of a true-life event. By not smudging the facts surrounding his vigilant gunfire, Robert respects his craft(assuming that playwriting and the dramatic arts are important to him) and the memory of his boyhood idol.