The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
starring: Tom Aldredge, Michael Copeman, Alison Elliott, Ted Levine, Mary-Louise Parker
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Product Description:
Everyone in 1880s America knows Jesse James. He?s the nation?s most notorious criminal hunted by the law in 10 states. He?s also the land?s greatest hero lauded as a Robin Hood by the public. Robert Ford? No one knows him. Not yet. But the ambitious 19-year-old aims to change that. He?ll befriend Jesse ride with his gang. And if that doesn?t bring Ford fame he?ll find a deadlier way. Friendship becomes rivalry and the quest for fame becomes obsession in this virile epic produced in part by Ridley Scott and featuring gripping portrayals by Brad Pitt (winner of the Venice Film Festival Best Actor Award) as Jesse and Casey Affleck as the youth drawn closer to his goal?and farther from his own humanity.Running Time: 159 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: WESTERN/OUTLAWS UPC: 012569763739 Manufacturer No: 76373
Amazon.com:
Of all the movies made about or glancingly involving the 19th-century outlaw Jesse Woodson James, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is the most reflective, most ambitious, most intricately fascinating, and indisputably most beautiful. Based on the novel of the same name by Ron Hansen, it picks up James late in his career, a few hours before his final train robbery, then covers the slow catastrophe of the gang's breakup over the next seven months even as the boss himself settles into an approximation of genteel retirement. But in another sense all of the movie is later than that. The very title assumes the audience's familiarity with James as a figure out of history and legend, and our awareness that he was--will be--murdered in his parlor one quiet afternoon by a backshooting crony.
The film--only the second to be made by New Zealand-born writer-director Andrew Dominik--reminds us that Dominik's debut film, Chopper (2000), was the cunningly off-kilter portrait of another real-life criminal psychopath who became a kind of rock star to his society. The Jesse James of this telling is no Robin Hood robbing the rich to give to the poor, and that train robbery we witness is punctuated by acts of gratuitous brutality, not gallantry. Nineteen-year-old Bob Ford (Casey Affleck) seeks to join the James gang out of hero worship stoked by the dime novels he secretes under his bed, but his glam hero (Brad Pitt) is a monster who takes private glee in infecting his accomplices with his own paranoia, then murdering them for it. In the careful orchestration of James's final moments, there's even a hint that he takes satisfaction in his own demise.
Affleck and Pitt (who co-produced with Ridley Scott, among others) are mesmerizing in the title roles, but the movie is enriched by an exceptional supporting cast: Sam Shepard as Jesse's older, more stable brother Frank; Sam Rockwell as Bob Ford's own brother Charlie, whose post-assassination descent into madness is astonishing to behold; Paul Schneider, Garret Dillahunt, and Jeremy Renner as three variously doomed gang members; and Mary-Louise Parker, who as Jesse's wife Zee has few lines yet manages with looks and body language to invoke a wellnigh-novelistic backstory for herself. There are also electrifying cameos by James Carville, doing solid actorly work as the governor of Missouri; Ted Levine, as a lawman of antic spirit; and Nick Cave, composer of the film's score (with Warren Ellis) and screenwriter of the Aussie "Western" The Proposition, suddenly towering over a late scene to perform the folk song that set the terms for the book and movie's title.
Still, the real costar is Roger Deakins, probably the finest cinematographer at work today. The landscapes of the movie (mostly in Alberta and Manitoba) will linger in the memory as long as the distinctive faces, and we seem to feel the sting of its snows on our cheeks. Interior scenes are equally persuasive. Few Westerns have conveyed so tangibly the bleakness and austerity of the spaces people of the frontier called home, and sought in vain to warm with human spirit. --Richard T. Jameson
Everyone in 1880s America knows Jesse James. He?s the nation?s most notorious criminal hunted by the law in 10 states. He?s also the land?s greatest hero lauded as a Robin Hood by the public. Robert Ford? No one knows him. Not yet. But the ambitious 19-year-old aims to change that. He?ll befriend Jesse ride with his gang. And if that doesn?t bring Ford fame he?ll find a deadlier way. Friendship becomes rivalry and the quest for fame becomes obsession in this virile epic produced in part by Ridley Scott and featuring gripping portrayals by Brad Pitt (winner of the Venice Film Festival Best Actor Award) as Jesse and Casey Affleck as the youth drawn closer to his goal?and farther from his own humanity.Running Time: 159 min.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: WESTERN/OUTLAWS UPC: 012569763739 Manufacturer No: 76373
Amazon.com:
Of all the movies made about or glancingly involving the 19th-century outlaw Jesse Woodson James, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is the most reflective, most ambitious, most intricately fascinating, and indisputably most beautiful. Based on the novel of the same name by Ron Hansen, it picks up James late in his career, a few hours before his final train robbery, then covers the slow catastrophe of the gang's breakup over the next seven months even as the boss himself settles into an approximation of genteel retirement. But in another sense all of the movie is later than that. The very title assumes the audience's familiarity with James as a figure out of history and legend, and our awareness that he was--will be--murdered in his parlor one quiet afternoon by a backshooting crony.
The film--only the second to be made by New Zealand-born writer-director Andrew Dominik--reminds us that Dominik's debut film, Chopper (2000), was the cunningly off-kilter portrait of another real-life criminal psychopath who became a kind of rock star to his society. The Jesse James of this telling is no Robin Hood robbing the rich to give to the poor, and that train robbery we witness is punctuated by acts of gratuitous brutality, not gallantry. Nineteen-year-old Bob Ford (Casey Affleck) seeks to join the James gang out of hero worship stoked by the dime novels he secretes under his bed, but his glam hero (Brad Pitt) is a monster who takes private glee in infecting his accomplices with his own paranoia, then murdering them for it. In the careful orchestration of James's final moments, there's even a hint that he takes satisfaction in his own demise.
Affleck and Pitt (who co-produced with Ridley Scott, among others) are mesmerizing in the title roles, but the movie is enriched by an exceptional supporting cast: Sam Shepard as Jesse's older, more stable brother Frank; Sam Rockwell as Bob Ford's own brother Charlie, whose post-assassination descent into madness is astonishing to behold; Paul Schneider, Garret Dillahunt, and Jeremy Renner as three variously doomed gang members; and Mary-Louise Parker, who as Jesse's wife Zee has few lines yet manages with looks and body language to invoke a wellnigh-novelistic backstory for herself. There are also electrifying cameos by James Carville, doing solid actorly work as the governor of Missouri; Ted Levine, as a lawman of antic spirit; and Nick Cave, composer of the film's score (with Warren Ellis) and screenwriter of the Aussie "Western" The Proposition, suddenly towering over a late scene to perform the folk song that set the terms for the book and movie's title.
Still, the real costar is Roger Deakins, probably the finest cinematographer at work today. The landscapes of the movie (mostly in Alberta and Manitoba) will linger in the memory as long as the distinctive faces, and we seem to feel the sting of its snows on our cheeks. Interior scenes are equally persuasive. Few Westerns have conveyed so tangibly the bleakness and austerity of the spaces people of the frontier called home, and sought in vain to warm with human spirit. --Richard T. Jameson
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Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: 
- Dull
Like the equally tedious "Pearl Harbor," this movie wastes good actors and spectacular photography on a film that seems to take longer to watch than the historical events took to happen.
By the third hour, I had lapsed into a coma.
The writing is ornate (attempting to mimic the grandiloquent style of 19th Century America) but pointless.
Character-development is ham-handed and one-dimensional.Yes, Jesse James is mercurial and violent and (rarely) charming, ... Read More
Rating: 
- Intelligent and Absorbing
Everyone on this site, from five stars to one star, agrees that this movie is slowly paced. And that it is. But it's also a fascinating look at how a young wastrel's admiration for a ruthless killer turns to dismay and finally sheer self-defence. (That isn't a spoiler; the information is already in the title of the film.) Both Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck give excellent performances, too. Pitt sometimes gives you the feeling he's making it up as he goes along because he's so spontaneous. Affleck is ... Read More
Rating: 
- Sloooooooowwwww....
If you think the title is long, wait until you see the movie! This thing is slooooow, and at 2 hours 40 minutes long it seems like it goes on forever. Maybe I would have appreciated this more on a big screen - I watched it on my 17" laptop on an airplane, and it probably didn't do justice to Roger Deakin's amazing cinematography (he's the best in the business right now, bar none). Casey Affleck does a good job here as the coward, but I think he was stronger in 'Gone Baby Gone', which is also a better ... Read More
Rating: 
- Beautiful, Slow, But Beautiful
Think "There Will Be Blood" meets the wild west.This is a slow, pensive and brilliantly creative piece of cinematography.Its about good character development, gorgeous camera shots, lots of mood, etc - not big action and fast scenes.Its much more cerebral. You probably need to be expecting this to enjoy it.
Rating: - And I even hate Westerns
Let me begin this review by saying that in general, I hate Western movies.If you ask me to name my 100 favorite movies, Silverado and Dances with Wolves might come in somewhere around 95.I thought Eastwood's Unforgiven (released in 1992) was a dark, and crappy rehash of Pretty Woman (released in 1990), and I laughed out loud whenever listening to the contrived dialogues of Sergio Leone's spaghetti Westerns.
So watching this movie was a pleasant surprise.Brad Pitt has a hobby of picking ... Read More
- DullLike the equally tedious "Pearl Harbor," this movie wastes good actors and spectacular photography on a film that seems to take longer to watch than the historical events took to happen.
By the third hour, I had lapsed into a coma.
The writing is ornate (attempting to mimic the grandiloquent style of 19th Century America) but pointless.
Character-development is ham-handed and one-dimensional.Yes, Jesse James is mercurial and violent and (rarely) charming, ... Read More
- Intelligent and AbsorbingEveryone on this site, from five stars to one star, agrees that this movie is slowly paced. And that it is. But it's also a fascinating look at how a young wastrel's admiration for a ruthless killer turns to dismay and finally sheer self-defence. (That isn't a spoiler; the information is already in the title of the film.) Both Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck give excellent performances, too. Pitt sometimes gives you the feeling he's making it up as he goes along because he's so spontaneous. Affleck is ... Read More
- Sloooooooowwwww....If you think the title is long, wait until you see the movie! This thing is slooooow, and at 2 hours 40 minutes long it seems like it goes on forever. Maybe I would have appreciated this more on a big screen - I watched it on my 17" laptop on an airplane, and it probably didn't do justice to Roger Deakin's amazing cinematography (he's the best in the business right now, bar none). Casey Affleck does a good job here as the coward, but I think he was stronger in 'Gone Baby Gone', which is also a better ... Read More
- Beautiful, Slow, But BeautifulThink "There Will Be Blood" meets the wild west.This is a slow, pensive and brilliantly creative piece of cinematography.Its about good character development, gorgeous camera shots, lots of mood, etc - not big action and fast scenes.Its much more cerebral. You probably need to be expecting this to enjoy it.
- And I even hate WesternsLet me begin this review by saying that in general, I hate Western movies.If you ask me to name my 100 favorite movies, Silverado and Dances with Wolves might come in somewhere around 95.I thought Eastwood's Unforgiven (released in 1992) was a dark, and crappy rehash of Pretty Woman (released in 1990), and I laughed out loud whenever listening to the contrived dialogues of Sergio Leone's spaghetti Westerns.
So watching this movie was a pleasant surprise.Brad Pitt has a hobby of picking ... Read More
