Review of The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) by Laura R — 14 Feb 2011

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is not like any other Western movie I've seen. Instead of relying on rousing gunfights and blood and guts flying everywhere, this movie relies on an engaging story that drew me in from the start.

I was reluctant to watch this movie seeing as it was 2 hrs. 40 mins., but sitting down to watch it, I enjoyed Jesse James immensely. Yes, with the running time, it does drag a little bit, but that can be expected.

Also, the movie can be a little confusing at times trying to keep track of all the names, faces and situations. There's also not much of the early life of Jesse James portrayed which is kind of upsetting, but I guess the makers of the movie left those out because most of us know who Jesse James is already.

Instead we get a story where a young man by the name of Robert Ford tries to find who he is by joining Jesse James and his gang. This is just as engaging as any movie full of gunfights. I also enjoyed how the camera work was sometimes.

It was grainy and such and made it really look like the 1880s. But if you should see the movie for one reason and one reason only, it's the acting. I can't imagine anyone other than Brad Pitt playing Jesse James.

His acting is so superb in this movie when he goes from a man who had everything as a former outlaw to trying to step away from it all. Casey Affleck also steps alongside Pitt as Robert Ford. He is also scary good in this movie.