Enthralling American epic

Rating: 10/10 (19 April 2020)

Once in a decade Hollywood produces something that transcends mere entertainment and which reveals, disturbs, excites and provokes with a brilliance and intensity that makes you cling to every moment that passes. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is just such a film. Haunting and ethereal with film noirish elements of bleakness combined with beauty, the movie is an overlooked and forgotten gem for its acting, realism, directing, cinematography and musical score. The only reason it didn't sweep the Academy Awards is because it went up against another masterpiece No Country for Old Men. Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck are superb in their soul-dead roles of Jessie James and Robert Ford. Watch it and be prepared to be thunderstruck by greatness.