Beautifully filmed and haunting film that is classy, deliberate and engaging

Rating: Null/10 (22 May 2008)

Robert Ford is an unremarkable and unmemorable young man who has long held a fascination with the outlaw Jesse James. When his attempts to join the James gang are rejected, Ford persists and is taken in by Jesse  perhaps because the latter welcomes the non-threatening adoration of the former. However as time goes on two things occur within both men  Ford becomes disillusioned and less in awe of Jesse, while Jesse becomes suspicious of his gang members and fearful of betrayal.
It is best to get the common complaint out of the way and acknowledge that, in some vocabularies, this film is "slow" but this is not the same as me agreeing with those that label it such. Rather I prefer to see it as "deliberate" or "gradual" because these describe the quality of pace in the same way but doesn't suggest that it is a detrimental or negative thing. So the film does move with a patient pace that is in no rush to go anywhere quickly. But yet it manages to engage and hold the attention with surprising ease. The reason is the quality in the tale  the narrative, the characters and the themes all come together to produce a film of quiet interest.
I am not doing it justice in my description but the main story, taken at face value is an engaging story of the later life and fate of Jesse James, in particular his interactions with Robert Ford. It is a fascinating portrayal mainly because of the strength of the characters more than the specifics of the plot. James is as charming as he is violent and it this uneasy balance that makes him engaging. Meanwhile Ford goes from being starry-eyed to being bitter; both men are interesting individually and together. As many have said, the modern subject of fame is run through the film. The wonderful title alludes to it as it presents the story in the headline of spin (history may side with the celebrity against the "coward" but we can see that the title is not necessarily true). Mostly it is in the background but in retrospect it is more important than I first thought  it just took the final twenty minutes to bring it all into focus for me in regards significance.
Bringing the best from the characters are a couple of great performances, supported by good performances. The celebrity undercurrent very much suits the casting of Pitt but it is not just this that he brings to the role. Rather his performance is really impressive, mixing his usual charisma and charm with a convincing undercurrent of menace. Affleck was more of a surprise to me because he does come out with a nicely understated and powerful character that rightly never gets close to holding a scene in the way Pitt's James has to, but does all his work in smaller ways. The support has good work from Parker, Rockwell, Shepard and others. Dominik directs the camera and the cast with a steady and understanding hand but for me the real star is Roger Deakin, who's main misfortune appears to have been having two great products in the same Oscars season  essentially splitting his votes.
The cinematography is breath-taking. The most obvious touches of style get the mentions of course, but across the whole film it looks great, with attention paid to the stark colours, strong use of lighting and focal points within the shots. Like everyone else though it is the wonderfully creative visual moments that make the film and stick with the viewer. The striking use of light and darkness in the early train robbery is one but the general design of the narrator-led sequences with clever use of focus, framing and colour. It is a breath-taking work and although I cannot comment on its worthiness versus "There Will Be Blood" (I have not yet seen it), it is a triumph. It is rare that I would watch a film again just for the beauty of it, but this is one of those films that could have frames and sequences hung in a gallery.
Like its title this film is longer than the norm, but it is also better than the norm as well. The pace is slow, but not in a way that is dull but rather a way that is patience and rewarding. The story and characters hold the attention easily and the thematic comment on fame only serves to add. Topping off the performances and direction is a wonderful piece of work from the cinematographer that greatly adds to the sense of importance of the film by making each scene a visual beauty that is a joy to watch. I get that it will not be to everyone's tastes but it deserves to be seen anyway  but moaning that it doesn't have the pace of Young Guns says more about you than the film.