Review of The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) by Thomas B — 17 May 2017

Having much enjoyed Andrew Dominik's follow up to 'The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford', 'Killing Them Softly', I decided it was time to revisit this one. Since my first viewing, I have learnt much about the figure that is Jesse James; mainly in regards to his earlier escapades both during the Civil War, with the guerrilla group 'Quantrill's Raiders', and after it, with the Younger brothers and the James-Younger gang.

This was surprisingly beneficial when viewing the movie a second time, as I had a much better understanding of the kind of man Jesse was, and a better insight into what Dominik was going for with this character.

Jesse's descent into paranoia and insomnia meant a lot more knowing his history. What really stood out this time was just how reflective this movie is with its character study. Jesse James and Robert Ford are so wildly different, yet Dominik makes the two seem interconnected in such a way that 'fate' is the only way to describe it.

On a technical level this film is pretty much flawless, and the more serious tone would lead me to say this is Dominik's best work out of the two. I still had an issue with the pacing, though. There were a couple of occasions where my mind started to wander, and had it been trimmed down by 10-15 minutes I think the film would be all the better for it.

Even though I enjoy 'Killing Them Softly' slightly more on a personal level - this was Dominik's second feature, and his first with any sort of budget or expectation - and my word is it impressive when you look at it like that.