Great Story

Rating: 9/10 (12 February 2008)

Jesse James (Pitt) is wary of his new gang since the old gang was either dead or in prison, and he knows something is up. After all there is a large reward on him, dead or alive, and he is retired now..more or less.
I thought the title was too long, and then I saw the movie and the title is exactly right. This is perhaps the most comprehensive story about Jesse James, and Robert Ford. All we ever heard in the past was that James went to fix a picture on the wall and Ford shot him in the back. That's all we ever heard until now.
The story is slow, there is narration, and some scenes linger but all are necessary and artfully done. It's like watching a Ken Burns documentary come to life (Burns did excellent documentaries for TV on the Civil War, American Baseball, Jazz, WWII and many more using narration and still pictures that were available for the times) or reading the novel without actually reading the novel, but getting the full flavor of the novel. Say what? Now all of this couldn't have been experienced if it wasn't for the novel by Ron Hansen.
There is no language in the movie but the new gang members, in the beginning as they sat around a camp fire, do use code words to describe a woman's parts. It wasn't necessary, not funny and they were probably incorporated to give us a sense of outlaw camp-fire talk, I suppose. Also, when the gang robbed the train (their last), most actors had troubles with keeping their bandanas on over their noses. Kind of funny now that I think about it.
Casey Affleck did a great job (an Oscar performance? Maybe) as Robert Ford, but let's face it, he looks so much like brother Ben, that sometimes you see Ben when watching Casey. They look so much alike and have similar facial contortions. Maybe a mustache would help.
Mary-Louise Parker was wasted here but maybe she just wanted to be in the movie at any cost. James Carville (political analyst) was good as the governor. Sam Shepard, as Frank James, was in and out so fast you hardly knew he was in here. The performances of the rest of the cast were excellent. As for Brad Pitt, he was Jesse James in every sense of the word that we have come to fantasize about. Can't get better than that. Yes, a great story.
Violence:Yes; Sex:NO; Nudity:No; Language:No