"Assassination of Jesse James..." is visually stunning but....

Rating: Null/10 (19 April 2010)

The extended title of this film, "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," gives advance notice to viewers of the long journey yet to come. Although visually stunning and shot with an eye for historical accuracy and detail, the ponderous direction of Andrew Dominik eventually undermines most of the good features and fine acting on display here. Brad Pitt makes for an intriguing and cold-blooded Jesse James and Casey Affleck matches him with a nuanced performance as Robert Ford, the man who kills him. At first obsessed with the outlaw James and guilty of hero-worshiping, Ford's opinion of him gradually evolves into loathing. Too bad it takes Ford over two hours of film time to arrive at that conclusion and finally pull the trigger on him. Along the way, the story plods on and on, leaving most of its audience in a catatonic state. Mary-Louis Parker is also around as Jesse's wife Zee, and she does her best in a role that only requires her to have one pivotal scene near the end. Sam Rockwell also does fine work as Charlie Ford, Bob's somewhat imbecilic brother and reluctant accomplice. James Carville has a nice cameo as Missouri Governor Crittenden and shows off some hidden acting chops. Sam Shepard can be spotted in a few early scenes as Frank James and then is seen no more---to the detriment of the movie.
"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" is one of those films that could've used a first-class editor and a more compact script to get its point across. To add to the tediousness, the film doesn't even end with the murder of Jesse James. Instead, it labors on for another half hour and finishes with Robert Ford's own violent death. Somewhere during this long journey of a movie, director Dominik forgot how to say the word "CUT!"