a film that is beautiful and full of spectacle in both appearance and substance

Rating: 9/10 (20 April 2008)

The only thing about this modern retelling of Jesse James's assassination by Bob Ford that seems out of place is the title, "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" which is a tad bit verbose for a film title. Nonetheless, beneath the title's usage of too many words is a film that I found myself simply amazed by. This is one of the best Westerns to come out of recent times. Some critics have called it the best since "Unforgiven". It tells a story that has been told on screen many, many times before, but never so beautifully as this.
The film stars Brad Pitt as the unstable bank robber and killer Jesse James, in which he gives yet another golden performance that is certainly noteworthy in this film. Casey Affleck is the other title character, Robert Ford, the man who first idolized Jesse James, joined his gang, befriended him, and later felt he had no choice but to kill the famous outlaw. Both of these actors gave spectacular and authentistic performances, especially the first of the two. Affleck got the Oscar nomination and I felt he deserved it, but I was even more fond of Brad Pitt's portrayal of Jesse James. The two real-life characters, portrayed by the actors, are bound by a screenplay that is very realistic, intense, well-written, and full of substance that shows development of the characters as human beings rather than just historical figures.
The film's style is very appealing, especially with the fantastic Oscar-nominated cinematography job by Roger Deakins. The sets are very convincing, the gunshot sound effects sound good, and produce a fairly realistic effect on the characters being shot. Gunshots in this film can literally make you jump in your seat even when you're expecting it. Just as a real black-powder weapon would do, the shots are booming loud. Hits look like real hits rather than just squibs with fake blood exploding under the actors' clothing. I did feel the many usages of sped-up shots of the clouds rolling by was inapposite or maybe a bit cliché, but that was no big deal. The film still works. And the great score by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis added to the overall feeling of the movie.
In short, "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" is a film that I highly recommend for both fans of the Western genre and fans of movies that are simply well-made. It is beautiful in appearance and even beautiful in its substance, which is rare to find in movies these days. But this just shows that the era of symbolic films has not come to an end and despite "The Assassination of Jesse James"'s poor box office results, it was a critical success and in my opinion, was worthy of more audience members than those who attended it.