A dark, bleak, gritty biography that some how captivates and pulls you in

Rating: 9/10 (21 July 2008)

I wasn't sure what to make of The Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford when I was first watching it. Was it nothing more than a Brad Pitt vehicle looking to score some artistic points? It had this ominous narration that felt like an elongated episode of A&E's Biography. And as it continued all the pieces began to fall into place and I was pulled into this dark, paranoid, gritty, dust ridden world of Jesse James and his descent into his own destruction. I'm not one to call out the artistic greats of a film unless it entertains as well and I'm not sure that this film would appeal to everyone certainly but I'm an enormous history fan, and love Westerns and this one just felt real from beginning to end and the actors in the film really knocked this one out of the park with some really powerful performances. They are very subtle and it really starts to sink in on you about half way through. You feel like you're being drawn into everything that they are and you wait and wait for the moment you know is coming right from the minute you see the title of the film. And when it happens...it doesn't disappoint. The Assassination is shocking and violent and so sudden that you will reel back and...if you're a little morose like me...watch it again...in slow motion...because it's brilliantly done. Everything in the film is so subtle right up to the Assassination and then you're just rocked.
Brad Pitt is Jesse James and gives one of the more subtle performances. I like Pitt, he's an amazing Hollywood star but he also has some incredible talent proved in such amazing roles as 12 Monkeys, Meet Joe Black, and the amazing Se7en. This role is so quiet at first and you can't believe that this family man is the cold blooded killer but that is the whole idea. No one had any idea and throughout the film he has a descent into almost complete madness. This film takes the liberty that he set up his own death ultimately not being able to live with himself and his paranoia. Pitt is excellent. I really wasn't sure about the Oscar nominated performance of Casey Affleck who plays the coward himself Robert Ford but once again he really grew on me. Ford has all these very distinct personality traits and almost tics as he lives and idolizes Jesse but essentially trades his passion for glory as they say. He'll do anything for number one which is him. You go through so many emotions with his character...you despise him, pity him, relish him, hate him, and feel his own self loathing. It really is quite the performance and Pitt and Affleck play off each other brilliantly. Paul Schneider is a deliciously slimy character Dick Liddil. He's just a real scum bag and you love to hate him all the way through. Sam Rockwell is good as the nervous brother to Affleck's Ford. His character has a lot of emotional moments in the film and he does well. Jeremy Renner is also good as rough around the edges cowboy and Jesse's cousin. And Mary-Louise Parker has a small role as Jesse's wife but it's a good role although she's barely recognizable in it. One of the truly terrific roles in the film is that of the Narrator Hugh Ross who has an amazing voice and it really did make an impact having him narrate certain aspects of Jesse James' life. It felt like a biography and yet you were living it with them.
If anything this is the furthest from a typical Hollywood Western and yet still holds some of the elements from that genre. There isn't any distinct bad guys or good guys, white hats or black hats, dusty towns with an angry sheriff. This feels like the real thing with brilliantly bleak landscape and gray clouds all around and tiny hand built cabins where they live. Train robberies, and gun shoot outs and horse riding are plenty but it all feels like it could have happened and was happening right in front of you. There were actually several scenes that were so brilliantly filmed (the film was also nominated for an Oscar in cinematography) that will literally make you want to pause the film and just look at it. Simplicity and yet completely moving. I would call The Assassination of Jesse James a historical epic at it's finest but in the most subtle of ways. I keep using that word because it is exactly what the film is all about subtly that will jump up and turn into a very powerful film when you least expect it. Rather than ending the film with James' assassination we get to see the following events surrounding his death including a very excellent re-creation of the infamous photos of his body. We also get to follow Robert Ford in his life following his infamous Assassination on James right up to his own death which I think was very clever of the film makers. If you love history, or really do appreciate a beautifully shot, well acted, powerful film you won't be disappointed with this one. Two and a half hours feels like an hour. 9/10