Review of The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) by Hoss R — 29 Nov 2011

I was first interested in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" (Let's call it "Assassination" for short) since I saw the first teaser trailer over a year ago in some random summer 2006 movie... Then the movie was delayed for almost a full year, and I hadn't really thought about it much until I read a couple early reviews for it back about a month and a half ago that where both extremely positive. That's what brought it back into the back of my head as movies that I was pretty interested in seeing. About three weeks after reading those reviews, I stumbled upon a new batch of trailers that had been released for the movie and I figured I'd watch them since I hadn't really seen anything besides a 1 minute teaser for the movie and that was it. After seeing that first full length trailer I was absolutely dying to see the movie. And so, I did, I saw it while it was still in very limited release (5 theaters in the country) and I'm glad I did. Here's my review of "The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford".

Director Andrew Dominik is a fairly unknown director. The only other movie I've seen of his was a very peculiar film, that was also a "bio-pic" about a notourious person in crime called "Chopper". "Chopper" is totally, abosolutely, utterly different than this film, however if you analyze the way the violence is done in this film and look at the way it's done in "Chopper" it's not to hard to see atleast a similarity in style. That movie is pulpy, and more of a dark comedy than anything else, where as "Assassination" is one of the darkest, deepest, most depressing movies I've ever seen. It delves into our human obssessions with fame, the horrible cost that comes with fame, and the power of jealousy, hatred, and paranoia. The film itself is well made in every right and Dominik was a perfect choice to direct and I dont doubt that he'll be getting more work soon. The slow pacing of the movie will definitely bug some people, but it really didnt bother me much, however it did get a bit tedious to sit through for about 20 or 30 mins before the title of the film is carried out. Other than that time I wasn't bored at all. The film needed to be as slow as it was. The first half isn't really slow at all. It starts off with a fifteen minute or so introduction to all the characters and then "The Train Robbery" sequence ensues which is a pretty amazing thing to put near the front of any movie. It's unlike any action scene I've ever seen before because it's really more just beautiful and tense than it is actually violent, which is really an interesting technique that is used through a lot of the movie. This scene really sets the stage for the rest of the movie, and what's interesting about the beginning is that it actually marks the end of Jesse James's career as a major outlaw, so this is the only "James" robbery we see in the entire film.

In the introduction for the film one of the most important things to remember is that the narrator says that because all of the James gang except Jesse and one of his brothers had been thrown in jail or killed they where forced to use petty thieves and low lives in their crew. You will not like anyone in this movie. There isn't a single actually genuinely likeable character, there is no clear cut good guy, there is no bad guy really. Jesse James is not a nice man, and Robert Ford is not evil. They are both extremely unlikeable but in different ways. All of the other side characters are just nasty people and you don't really care when they are killed off. This may seem like a bad thing, but its not at all. It actually makes this movie very similar to "Unforgiven" because it shows this absolute nasty, and totally unglamourous side of the old west. Not to mention it makes a myth like man (Jesse James) and shows him as he was, a flawed, paranoid man who lead the life of a criminal, and it treats none of the other characters any nicer. The best word to describe this movie would have to just be "honest" because that's exactly what it is. It shows people as they where. Nothing less, nothing more, and in general these people are really slimy nasty people.

Roger Deakins does an amazing job with the cinematography for the film and I wouldn't be at all surprised if this movie wins the "Academy Award" for "Best Cinematography". Some of the scenes in this film are breathtaking, and he always does a great job at using lighting to help creat mood. This is a handsome film, no doubt about it.

Nick Cave also does a great job on the music in the film. However it almost seems like Dominik replayed two of the songs Cave composed way too many times because by the end you felt like some of the music gets repetitive, but still this isn't Cave's fault so I'm not going to blame him for that. During the darker scenes his music shines brightly, and it definitely helps to create the slow, brooding mood of the film.

The acting in the film is nothing but top notch. Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck could both potentially be up for "Oscar's" this fall too. Pitt for "Best Actor" and Affleck for "Best Supporting Actor". Sam Rockwell also does a very good job and probably has the third biggest role in the film. He might actually be the most likeable character of them all as "Charlie Ford", Robert's older, dumb brother. You actually probably feel most sorry for Robert Ford by the end of the movie, and we understand his motivations for killing Jesse James somewhere in the middle. He's just a confused young kid who is always made fun of and he just wants to be recognized as a respectable man who is remembered by history as a hero. He's very upset to see and hear so many people calling him a coward. The man who kills Ford actually was let out of prison later on because of how poorly society looked on him at this point, and because of how well they looked on James. The truth of it is James wasn't that good and Ford wasn't that bad, and these characters are handled expertly by Pitt and Affleck.

The thing that I've been hearing most is that the film is way too long and way too slow. As I said before it does get a bit tedious, in one part inparticular, but this is a minor complaint considering how well made this film is as a whole, and the fact that it's message is so timeless, and that it resonates so well today. This movie would be interesting if it wasn't based on a true story, but because it is, it's even more interesting. Whenever there is violence Dominik does a good job of simply showing it. He doesn't glorify it, it's not over the top, it's not entertaining, it's actually generally very disturbing, and another thing that's noticeable is that gun shots are louder than they are in most films which definitely makes you feel more uncomfortable during these scenes. This works extremely well considering what this film is trying to get at, as well as the nasty characters that fill this one to the brim.

Overall "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" is an interesting study of human nature and it's message is very much alive today. The history in it is interesting, and it's pretty amazing to see such a legend or even a mythical being like "Jesse James" whose name has still been heard by nearly everyone alive today even, reduced to a regular old criminal... It's incredibly interesting to see this on the screen, as well as the history that's covered in detail during the amount of time this movie covers. I loved this movie, and I've never seen anything quite like it. A masterpiece in the western genre, and I think it will be a huge DVD hit and will likely be looked back on later in this century as one of the more interesting films to be released during this time period.

10/10.