Review of The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) by Andrew D — 21 Jul 2010

Most Westerns are Action films in a way. Most of them are full of gunfighting and, well, action. But this one is different, it is a drama, and it is nice to see a Dramatic Western (yep, I think thats the term) for a change.

The film is based on Ron Hansen's novel, which I haven't had the pleasure to read, but I would certainly like to.

The film depicts outlaw Jesse James (Brad Pitt) and his gang, but in a more personal way. Instead of showing their crimes, it shows the relationship between the characters, especially the one between Jesse James and Robert Ford (Cassey Afleck, yes, Ben Affleck's brother if you were wondering.).

I liked this film because it was different from the conventional Western. It was different because, as I said before, it is a drama, and also because it is darker than most Westerns.

I enjoyed the story, its captivating and very powerful. The characters are very well thought out, and the relationship between them is very good and interesting.

The performances were very good. Brad Pitt and Cassey Affleck both do a very good job with their characters, particularly Cassey Affleck, who was nominated for Best Supporting Actor (who I think should have been nominated for Best Actor instead, as the film focuses alot on his character too, so he is the main actor along with Brad Pitt. It was something like Marlon Brando and Al Pacino in The Godfather, both are the main characters but only Brando was nominated for Best Actor, while Pacino for Supporting Actor). Cassey Affleck became Robert Ford and gave dimensionality to his character, and we can see how the character developed through the story until the ending, all thanks to his fantastic performance.

I liked the director's style. As I said, the film is dark, and thats the director's vision. I liked how he worked, how he captured the outlaws world and the time period.

This is a very good movie. The film has a powerful story, well crafted characters, very good performances (especially for Cassey Affleck), and a dark mood and style.

87%.