The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Starring: Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck, Sam Rockwell, Mary-Louise Parker, Sam Shepard, Paul Schneider, Zooey Deschanel, Jeremy Renner
Directed by: Andrew Dominik
Rating: R
Genre: Western, Drama
2007

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Jesse James (Brad Pitt) and his gang face an unlikely enemy in one of their own- Robert Ford (Casey Affleck) who grows to resent the famous bandit.

Review:

Tim: There are definitely many things to enjoy about this movie. It tackles the Jesse James story in a way unlike any other film about him. The movie rolls out slowly. This is a drama, not a action movie. It is character-driven and propelled by the cast. All these are the best aspects of the film. However, the film is flawed as well. The movie drags in too many places. This is a beautiful film to look at (the cinematography is mesmerizing), but not always a great movie to watch. It can be a little boring.

Brad Pitt is fairly good as Jesse James. He's exactly what we imagine the famous outlaw would look like. However, the longer the movie goes on, the more troubling Pitt's performance is. We're not sure whether to like him, hate him, feel sorry for him, etc. Now, some of this can be explained by Jesse James being a very complicated character. However, Pitt's portrayal could have been better. Casey Affleck gives the best performance of the film as the very conflicted Robert Ford. While Jesse James needed a great performance to bring him to life, the actor playing Ford had an even bigger challenge. How does he convey this complex character, bringing him to life on screen? How do you balance being the so-called "coward" with also being the man who finally kills the famous Jesse James? This was not an easy role to pull off, but Affleck does so brilliantly. Even still, I am not sure I agree with him receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.

The supporting cast is decent. Sam Rockwell is not as annoying as he usually is. I actually loved seeing Paul Schneider's performance. In my mind, he was even better than Affleck. He was very enjoyable on screen.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford has many epic qualities. It is not the type of movie you'd be able to watch very often. It is very, very long at 160 minutes. The movie ebbs and flows with keeping our attention. The performances are good, but not great... and that is exactly how I would describe the movie as a whole.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 7



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend: Unforgiven, Legends of the Fall, Gone Baby Gone