That dirty little Coward, what shot Mr. Howard, put Jesse James in his grave

Rating: 10/10 (21 February 2008)

My mother, who was from Missouri, used to sing that song. Except she'd get the words wrong, but it was a testimony to how much of a legend Jesse James was a century later. She was distantly related to the Youngers, who were the partners with the James gang.
In any event, this movie portrays Robert Ford, the killer of Jesse James, as a disgruntled fan-boy who bought into the hero-worship of the dime novels, and was disappointed to find out his hero was really a garden variety psychopath.
Still, there's a lot to recommend this movie, in how it recreates the world of 1880 Missouri. Brad Pitt is pretty good in the role of James, to where you aren't saying, "Hey, that's Brad Pitt." He disappears into the role completely. In fact, the only actor who did jump out at me as not sinking into the role was presidential adviser James Carville, who played the Governor who sanctioned James Murder.
The movie drags in places, but it is a very compelling story. Affleck portrays Bob Howard in a very sympathetic way, pointing out that he had good reason to fear for his own life, that James was eliminating all of his associates.