The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

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The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

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The Assassination of Jesse Jam...

Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck, Mary-Louise Parker, Sam Rockwell, Sam Shepard

"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" delves into the private life and public exploits of America's most notorious outlaw. As the charismatic and unpredictable Jesse James (Brad...( read more  read more... ) Pitt) plans his next great robbery, he wages war on his enemies, who are trying to collect the reward money – and the glory – riding on his capture. But the greatest threat to his life may ultimately come from those he trusts the most.

Id: 10863663

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The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Recent Reviews

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The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford Recent Reviews
  • SirPant
    October 1, 2009
    SirPant
    Its long, its slow in places but it?s very stylish and the last 20 minutes are fantastic. It makes up for sitting through endless inaudible dialogue and some mediocre acting. Affleck & Rockwell steal the show. All in all, I thought it was a very good film but not quite the 5 star...( read more) film I was expecting!
  • thmtsang
    July 11, 2009
    thmtsang
    This movie is long and slow moving but it is required to reveal the intensity of the characters. It's very dark and violent. Brad and Casey give excellent performances. Brad is the outlaw Jesse James in the latter years of his career. Casey is Robert Ford who admires and follows ...( read more)Jesse only to kill him.
  • RCCLBC
    April 27, 2009
    RCCLBC
    As a rule, I'm not a big fan of "westerns".

    But when they are more along the lines historical "period pieces" and made with as much passion and attention to detail as this film...what's not to love?

    This was a very slow and methodic look at the last few months of the life o...( read more)f the "notorious outlaw" and the people who surrounded him during those final days. And ultimately at the life of his murderer Robert Ford, who (in my opinion) was more of a sociopath then a "coward".

    This might not sound interesting to some...but the acting is top notch and I found myself rivited by every moment of this film. It was beautiful to watch (on several levels) and you really get a feel for the lives of these people and the social mores of that period in history.

    I found it interesting, sad and haunting.
  • limoradalloway
    April 10, 2009
    limoradalloway
    Aside from the scene-stealing supporting actors, this film is just really sad and is a relative snoozefest. Interesting editing, cinematography and storytelling style, though.
  • McKittrick
    December 14, 2008
    McKittrick
    A smouldering, intense and quite sensual meditation on friendship, betrayal and guilt that made my heart skip a beat. It's not only the most achingly beautiful piece of cinematic Americana since Terence Malick's Badlands but also the most obviously homoerotic western I think I ha...( read more)ve ever seen. A tale of one man's obsession with glory and fame - ultimately at the expense of those who love and trust him, that's seared with such ardent longing and male-amour, that it's sexual undertone simmers quite earnestly barely below the surface. Also, the acute recreation of a rugged, earthy and even naive masculinity is rendered with as much love and careful attention to detail as the romantic and elegiac long takes of the vistas and landscapes that, along with a lush and doleful score, help bring to life the world of America's old west and the outlaws who lived and died in it.

    I'm not entirely sure why I missed this at the cinema and feel a little sad that I saw it first on DVD instead of on the big screen. It surely loses a tiny bit of it's greatness dwarfed onto the small screen. But I'm glad I have seen it anyway because I really love this one. And to all those, with a Play Station-addled sensibility, that think this film is too long: I say IT'S NOT. It's about an hour too short!
  • devilsdisciple
    December 16, 2009
    devilsdisciple
    this film test your real patience,the way movie is treated gives you a real feel of american society in early 1900's
  • RThornhill
    December 8, 2009
    RThornhill
    great acting, soundtrack, story, cinematography and direction = a classic.
  • deadmansshoes
    December 6, 2009
    deadmansshoes
    The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is what I would consider to be not only a great film for 2007, but one of the great films of all time.

    There are few movies that I would deign to be "perfect" films; The Godfather Part 2, Casablanca, Citizen Kane, The Se...( read more)archers, Jaws, Empire, E.T... All perfect. Where a film is only as good as the sum of it's parts, these films are examples where every part excels. I will now be adding The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford to that list. This, to me, is the definition of what a masterpiece should be. It is one of the greatest films I have ever seen.

    A haunting portrait of American legend, rich and multi-layered. The film deals with the burden of legend, the need for legend, the cult of celebrity... Ideas and concepts that transcend the period decoration of the early age of a nation but resonate through history to this very day. People do not want to die and be forgotten, it is a fear greater than the fear of death itself and this movie speaks to that fear and that need that has been with us for as long as the notion of humanity has existed. We all want our name to outlive our mortal shell, in small ways and in grand ways, and this film shows the terrible things that this need can summon and the toll that it can have on a man's soul.


    Robert Ford meets Jesse and his brother Frank James (played to gruff, sour-faced perfection by Sam Shepard) as part of a cobbled together gang of lowlifes preparing to intercept and rob a train, from the very off-set Robert gazes on Jesse with adoring eyes, he tries to approach him with a coy awkwardness, much like a nervous young man would approach his first crush. There is a moment in this where he eventually picks up the courage to join the gang and sit with them, but as he does the call for dinner is made and the whole group stand and leave, it seemed like such a universal moment, one I have made countless times before and it is always a knock to ones confidence, it sends you reeling back into that coy awkwardness, back to square one, summoning up the courage once again.


    The train robbery is beautifully handled, there are no real thrills to be found, the movie is not about dynamic moments, it is a somber tone with an almost poetic eye for details, emotions and natural beauty, what could have been a guns blazing action fest is subdued but all the more effective for it because it does not betray the tone of the film but still perfectly captures Jesse James' true nature early on. At the camp site he seemed cordial, good natured, well grounded, a man you could approach and share a drink and a joke with, but during the train robbery he shows his ugly side. Merciless, brutal and lost. He strikes down a man who refuses to get on his knees and gazes at the unconscious figure crumpled at his feet, a pool of blood forming around his skull, and Jesse's piercing blue eyes seem utterly blank, he seems to be a man incapable of controlling the demons inside and in that moment, that silent glare, you see the demons rob his eyes of all colour and all humanity.




    Robert Ford, on the other hand, is the prototype for many to come, a signal for the arrival of men such as Mark Chapman, Lee Harvey Oswald and many more to come. Insects in the presence of giants, driven to infamy in a desire to be remembered, and the title itself reveals the price of that remembrance.

    The movie works wonderfully as a sort of commentary on the "cult of celebrity", something that has existed longer than we care to remember, long before gossip magazines and internet bloggers made a living following the lives, loves and sins of the famous there were men like Jesse James, living legends, feared and respected by people of all ages. With a movie focusing on the pressures of infamy, who better to play the most famous man of his time than the most famous man of our time? This was a stroke of meta-film-making genius, in my opinion.


    Brad Pitt knows better than any the weight that fame and recognition can have on a man's soul, with Jesse James he explores this burden with the added stress of being a man who's soul is already forfeit. Can a man who knows he is damned cope with the pressure of being idolized, followed, observed, hunted? Men want to follow him and others want to stab him in the back for money or fame. This feeds into his violent paranoia. A victim of his own legend. Brad Pitt gives the definitive cinematic portrayal of Jesse James, his physicality echoes that of a man larger than life, his features broad and strong, his eyes a fierce blue with a piercing glare. His face a mystery, evoking uncertainty in all who meet him. Pitt's Jesse James is a man at the end of his life, he does not know fully that this is the case but for the world he lives in, every year he continues breathing may be his last and he understands that and every year that passes it wears him down a little further.


    The pressures of that life are etched on his ghostly pale face, can he carry on with a life where he is driven to kill countless men, men he once called friend, just to stay alive another year? It's a burden he carries throughout, he buckles under it's weight, eventually he will raise himself up and push ahead more steadfast than ever, as if to test what fate has in store for him. To try his luck and see if this year will be his last. I believe this is what drove Jesse, a man so cautious he would wear his gun belt at the dinner table, to take his belt off and leave it aside as he straightened up a painting on his wall, willingly turning his back on a pair of men he knew had betrayed him and they knew he was going to kill them. Jesse gave them that one opportunity to end it, to test their nerve and his own fate. Robert Ford, no stranger to shooting a man in the back, took this opportunity and his mark in history was made.

    With Ford, we can see he was no greater or worse than Jesse James, in fact the film shows Jesse as a far from noble man and indeed a man that needed stopping, but he was a powerful man. A leader. A confident, powerful figure whose grim achievements had earned him that name. The fact he was the legend of his time and to cut down a legend in such an dishonourable way came with its own price for Robert. You do not inherit that legend, instead you become a footnote in it.


    The tragedy of Robert Ford, illustrated beautifully in the films closing moments was that there would be no eulogy in the paper, commemorating his death. There would be no outpouring of public grief or even morbid fascination. People would not revile the man who shot him. Legend would not even remember his killer's name. The build up to this final moment is perfect, the most moving cinematic moment I have seen all year; the evocative score by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis cuts through to the heart, the distanced narration delivers to us the truths only history could know, and most of all, Casey Affleck earned the moment with his complex and fascinating performance.


    A great deal has already been said about Casey Affleck in this film, but that is simply because it is one of the best performances this year, bar none. He brings the sniveling, runtish character of Robert Ford to life, creating an air of sly calculation and petty resentment that makes him such a dangerous person but also imbues him with qualities that make you feel for him, when you aren't disgusted by his cowardice and his childish ways. Affleck carries himself through every scene with this fragile presence, using his own trademark nervous energy and creating a character who feels like he is on the precipice of his heart shattering into a thousand pieces. You are made to feel for him because Robert Ford is truly an unremarkable man in every respect, his features are slight, his frame weak and feable, his disposition is nervous and he has no quality that truly stands out, beyond a clear and steady hand with a gun but he lacks the courage and conviction to use it. Ultimately, he is a nobody.


    The only thing Robert Ford truly has is a steadfast belief that he will be a somebody, that he has that quality and it is only a matter of showing the world what he can do and then he will be remembered forever. This need is all he has, this desire to be just like Jesse James, his hero, is all he has to hold onto and throughout the film we see that desire dashed against the rocks and this pathetic shell of a man is left to scavenge what remains and move on. Unfortunately his in-built insecurities conflict with this cast-iron focus of his and it makes him twitchy and volatile, so when pushed or challenged to prove his worth and coming up short, he lashes out in barely self-controlled, passive aggressive ways but storing away that venomous resentment to unleash when circumstance presents him with an opportunity.


    Despite his crimes he does earn sympathy and understanding, simply because Affleck's performance is so perfectly formed that it is hard to truly hate the man and in one brief sequence when he is having his photograph taken with his sweetheart, there is a look in Ford's eyes, a look of regret. In that one moment Affleck nailed what was needed to reconnect with Robert Ford after his cowardly betrayal and the vile air of bravado that followed. He knew he had damned himself forever, he knew, like Jesse knew before the end, that he would never be able to redeem himself for the things he had done and he would have to live with that for the rest of his life. A beautifully formed performance that makes you feel almost every emotion under the sun, good and bad.

    The rest of the cast give great performances, particularly Sam Rockwell as Robert's older brother, Charlie Ford, who practically steals the movie away from Affleck in the final 20 minutes of the film. Those final 20 minutes follow the aftermath of Jesse James' murder, with Robert and Charlie touring America with a stage re-enactment of the deed, Robert basking in the adoration he received but the facade once again began to crumble and people saw his act for what it was, cowardice, and Robert lashed out violently while Charlie sunk into a deep depression. These 20 minutes are the most compelling element of the film and had me gripped just as I was expecting the film to run out of steam once the eponymous assassination took place. It is in these closing moments that the film hits its most tragic, with both Rockwell and Affleck delivering perfect performances. Rockwell, a sullen, broken shell of what he used to be; the vibrant, talkative figure who, while sharing some of Robert's more nervous dispositions, was a more confident and sociable figure. Affleck's pettiness and slow boiling rage gradually melting away, leaving him with a numbness, a sense of regret that he could never atone for and his empty, mournful performance epitomizes that.


    The chameleon-like Garret Dillahunt has a small part in this as one of the James gang who falls under the suspicion of Jesse. I make a point to always pay close attention to every performance Dillahunt gives because it is invariably unique to the last one and always brilliant. He had several roles in HBO's fantastic Deadwood, a minor role as the somewhat bumbling deputy in No Country for Old Men, and a small part as a sadistic Russian mobster in NBC's excellent cop drama, Life, and he never fails to surprise me with just how far he can disappear into a role. He imbues this character with such a pathetic nature, like a dying animal limping to it's final resting place. A man of no intelligence or charm and the only love he has ever felt in his life was from a whore and despite being such a small role Dillahunt makes you pity this poor wretch almost as strongly as you will at times pity Casey Affleck's Robert Ford. There is a moment he shares with Pitt, riding under a blanket of stars and Jesse talks of trying to count the stars but they keep changing every night, and Dillahunt's character pitifully says, "I don't even know what they are."


    It's a simple scene but it is a beautiful one, and actually turns into one of the most shocking scenes in the film. I will confess I leapt out of my skin, an act of ruthless violence following such a tender, thoughtful scene. It worked.


    Paul Schneider's charming snake in the grass, Dick Liddel, earns some memorable screen time and among the most quotable dialogue in the film. The remaining cast are all great at their respective roles, the womens roles in the film are generally small and largely thankless but each female performer gives their all to the scenes they share and it should not be overlooked in what is largely a movie about men.


    Many will say the film is long, but that would imply that the film was wasting time but not a moment is wasted on film, it is not a densely plotted film, not much in the way of big events happens in the 160 minute run-time, it doesn't need to; there is a sense of inevitability leading towards the film's denouement that even the characters seem aware of, not just the audience who have the history books to support them. The dialogue is somewhat laconic while making its impact, so the movie allows time to build up mood and quietly explore the themes, allowing there to be long moments of silence, symbolic landscape shots, pregnant pauses in dialogue that all say more than a laundry list of exposition could. That sense of ennui hanging over every frame is vital to capturing the cost of living for these men. It never once feels dull or sluggish, the film drifted by at a perfect pace, every moment counted, every pay off delivered in full and I felt constantly either gripped by the tension or swept away on a soft tide of beauty and melancholy. I never found myself wanting less or more, it was the perfect length for this film.


    Those landscapes bear further mention as they were truly breathtaking vistas. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is one of the most beautiful looking films I have seen in a long time, I cannot emphasize enough how gorgeous this film looks and how much this will benefit from the HD revolution. In a movie making world focusing heavily on CGI constructed worlds that are technically impressive but empty and lifeless, there is simply no replacement for the awe inspiring beauty of nature. There is a line in the opening narration that informs us that Jesse James suffered from a deteriorating eye condition that caused him to blink more than most people, "as if creation was somehow too much for him to believe" and with the images on offer in this film I would have to agree with Jesse. Absolutely stunning. Every backdrop and location is achingly beautiful. The landscape on show matches the mythic stature of the character and his story. The cinematography by Roger Deakins within this film deserves wider recognition, I would say this is among Deakins' finest work from a career including such beautifully shot films as Fargo, The Shawshank Redemption and Jarhead.


    Another truly remarkable aspect of the film that plays as vital a role as any element is the wonderful score by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, who's grimy yet poetic work on The Proposition's score showed they were two men who clearly understand the nuances of the Western and with their score for this film they craft a gentle, moving eulogy to lost legends and doomed souls. A series of pieces that at times capture the wild, dirty, unpredictable nature of the west as well as music that speaks of grief and death. "Song for Bob", particularly effective in the build up to Robert's death, is a moving, sweet and sorrowful experience, building in intensity and emotion, truly affecting the mood of the scene, connecting you to Robert and feeling that regret and pain, and lamenting that he would never a chance to say he was sorry and that it wouldn't matter even if he could.


    The use of narration, straight from the book from which the film was based, was sparing but vital, I have had issues with films that used this approach before, where I felt that a little creative storytelling and writing could construe such information just as well (see: Little Children, barring the football scene) but here it was wholly necessary, providing insight into the moments that the characters could not possibly know of, we as an audience have the benefit of legend to add extra colour to the scenes that needed them.


    The movie is about legend, the name outliving death, the power of remembrance. I refuse to believe this is a film that will only work for people who enjoy westerns, it is a work of existential beauty that speaks to every man and woman whether they like to admit it or not. There is some powerhouse performances on show, mesmerizing scenery and it deals with themes that are universal; both thought provoking and moving.


    Ultimately ignored at the Oscars due to a complete lack of faith from Warner Bros (leading to a lack of screenings and an almost non-existent push for awards consideration) but I believe time will be kindest of all to this film and it will be looked upon as one of the true classics of not only it's genre, but of cinema. In ten years time people will look at this film in the same way one looks at the best work of Coppolla, Scorcese, Altman, Kubrick and Malick (and may I add this is only Andrew Dominick's SECOND feature, just stew on that for a while) and they will be shocked and amazed that this movie was all but ignored in it's own time when it is unquestionably a masterpiece of the craft.

    The mere fact this is Andrew Dominick's SECOND feature (it bore repeating) is another facet that will leave people speechless, especially when compared to his modest, grimy, super low budget (and absolutely fantastic) debut, Chopper. What he achieved with this film in only his second attempt as a director is the kind of work most directors work half their careers to achieve.

    I say with no hesitation that this is one of the greatest films I have ever had the pleasure of watching, and I do not feel like I am overselling it, it's just that good.


    Trust me, this movie is going to have a legacy as powerful and enduring as Jesse James himself.
  • OCButterfly99
    December 4, 2009
    OCButterfly99
    This movie was petty alright, not one of my favorites. I love all the cats in it though! I love Brad Pit, Casey Affleck did a good job and Sam Rockwell is great!
  • elpasmo
    December 4, 2009
    elpasmo
    I can't believe... what a boring movie... I almost get sleep so many times. And the plot is easily guessed with not only one surprise.
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