Astonishingly beautiful, bluntly original...a masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (7 October 2007)

It's been a great year for films, and right now, this one is my favorite. I went without knowing the source material, and had only read some reviews which were mixed. I expected a pretentious mess, but instead was enthralled. I haven't seen a film that was as original as this one, that is, it references no other. Comparing it to the work of Terrence Malick is only valid because he's another unique director (who included fields of waving wheat). This has a potent narrative pull.
I don't remember seeing a film that fuses images, acting, music, meticulous period detail in its art direction and mood so seamlessly. Despite claims that it's overlong, each scene--all unexpected--moves the action forward. The title tells us what's going to happen. We're left to see why...and when. So there's incredible tension leading up to the killing. While all the performers are extraordinary, Casey Affleck dominates this group of psychopaths so successfully that everyone else looks quite normal (he out Norman's Norman Bates). His very complex character is so thoroughly laid out before us that the aftermath of his notorious act disappoints us as much as it did Robert Ford.
Because this film is so frankly original, I think people might resist it. But if you buy your ticket without expectation (this is not a Western; it's a psychological exploration of a wide range of deviants), you're in for an astonishing experience.