A Legend Born and a Coward Ignored

Rating: 10/10 (8 February 2008)

"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" says it all, but it has even more than meets the eye. Not only is the title a spoiler, but it sums up the two main characters. JESSE JAMES is in BIG BOLD letters like the legend he is while Robert Ford is hardly noticed underneath his name with the publicly attached "coward" in front it. The title allows us to sit back and enjoy the journey of Robert Ford in his quest to become famous, and Jesse James' journey into infamy and legendary myth.
The film stars Brad Pitt as the notorious Jesse James. Brad Pitt delivers an incredible performance. This may be his crowing achievement along with the character, Tyler Durden, which he played to perfection in "Fight Club." He plays Jesse James like he's bipolar so we never know what he's thinking, or what he's capable of doing at any given minute under any given circumstance. One minute he's jovial, and the next he's ripping at Robert Ford's head as he presses a knife to his throat with a demented look in his eyes just screaming of a homicidal maniac. Brad Pitt doesn't play him perfectly and some will notice the infamous Tyler Durden laugh peeking through, but it's a great performance that is thoroughly layered with deep, dark and buried emotions. It is worthy of a nomination at the very least. Jesse James' past and his actions seem to haunt him. Pitt plays a man suffering from a deep and very dark depression as he tries to hide his inner demons with good nature and laughter. Jesse James always knows what's going on. He's very cerebral in his actions. He's like a homicide detective with his carefully intimidating probing of terrified subjects as he looks for answers, but finds nothing but lies. James finds himself all alone surrounded by people that are looking to get paid off by giving him up to the law. He is always on the run and we gradually see him become tired of running and tired of living the way he is. His insomnia keeps him up at all hours as he lives in fear and paranoia. The assassination scene, one of the best scenes in the film, is incredible and shockingly suspenseful, as well as chilling. The pacing in that scene is deliberate and thought provoking, which will leave you thinking about it long after you see it.
Casey Affleck plays the "coward," Robert Ford. He is surly Oscar worthy here and undoubtedly gives the performance of his lifetime in a career year - "Gone Baby Gone". He plays Robert Ford as a weird, meticulous, well intentioned admirer of Jesse James thrust into his inner circle. He's the youngest brother of five boys. He's the weak one. He's the one always made fun of. He's always overlooked or looked down upon. Robert Ford is an uncomfortable person to be around, and Affleck plays him perfectly as a very odd young man with an obsession of Jesse James + the James gang that cross over boundaries of more than just admiration. He wants to be so much apart of that gang that, that's all he has ever wanted since he was a young child reading the fascinating stories of the James gang, and his legendary idol, Jesse James. He wants the fame and the respect that Jesse has, and he wants to be apart of something grand. He wants to know what it feels like to be Jesse James; in his shoes. As he joins the gang he starts to feel the pressure of Jesse James, and his feelings of the man start to change. When Robert Ford is sent to capture and arrest Jesse James that is when Jesse James becomes haunting as he watches his every move, and death seems immanent to both Robert Ford and his brother, Charley (Sam Rockwell). Robert Ford becomes every bit as famous after the murder as James was, then the people stop caring and they start hating. The final act of the film may be the most impressive since we see the kind of backfire stardom can have on you in a celebrity obsessed culture - even in the late 19th century.
The journey leading to the assassination and the incredible acting is something to truly admire and become utterly fascinated to watch unfold. The acting was just incredible even with some of the smaller parts, especially, with the lying and conniving, Charley Ford, or the funny, smart and very creepy, Dick Liddil (Paul Schneider). The acting on a whole was fantastic and no one upstaged anyone. The four main characters are all fantastic and all very different. The cinematography was absolutely beautiful and mesmerizing; this is some of the greatest film has to offer. The scenery is vast and breathtaking. The way some of the images are shot with blurred and distorted edges gives the audience the same feelings of the blurred perceptions between myth and fact. There are several shots through distorted windows giving a blurred outlook on this folklore world that Dominik creates. We never really are sure if something happened this way since the truth has been lost in myth and legend.
The set and costume designs were fantastic along with the argot. It feels as if you have been transported back to the late 1880s. It's a slow character study and wonderful cinematic piece of art. The score is both beautiful and haunting matching the tone of the film to perfection. This is one of the decades best films. Andrew Dominik deserves a lot of credit for this masterpiece.