Review of The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) by Jc M — 12 Aug 2013

2007 was a great year for movies. By now everyone has seen No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood. This film should be in concert with them as great contemporary western/period pieces of the 2000s but hardly anyone discusses it. Brad Pitt takes on Jesse James but Casey Affleck takes on the unlikely protagonist of Robert Ford. As the fatalistic title suggests, the master falls prey to his understudy and life long fan but through out the film, two extremely distinct personalities emerge. Robert Ford seeks fame and acceptance while Jesse James, the anti-celebrity, has serious psychological trauma keeping his image afloat.

The soundtrack is wonderful and is crafted entirely from a rather lovely four note motif by Nick Cave. The added element of hyperrealism in cinematography and dialogue is something to be treasured even though on the surface it may not be. We see heroes and legends in movies yet this makes two men with both good and evil inside them into morals with tragic flaws; Jesse James' being an outlaw and Robert Ford's being the rut of the lot who is never accepted.