A beautiful western

Rating: 9/10 (30 January 2008)

Another good Western to come out in 2007, along with 'Yuma', though this one is slower paced and more of a drama. In any case, the movie has great acting, beautiful direction, and a superb score. Affleck truly deserves the supporting actor nomination...(read more). The year 2007 will always be remembered on his resume' as a career defining one, after performing well in 'Gone Baby Gone'.
There are two things that hurt this movie; the length could have been easily reduced and it is probably what hurt it when it came to awards considerations and attracting crowds. Yes a lot of time was taken with expressions and landscape shots, however there was still room to shorten it up considerably. The second drawback of the movie was its long and spoiler of a title. It obviously gives the story away, not just by saying what will happen, but also by who. Had the title been more subtle, simply 'Jesse James' perhaps, the movie would have been unpredictable and more suspenseful.
However, this is a solid movie, worth watching for Western fans. This movie probably rates as my 3rd favorite Western after 'The Proposition' and '3:10 to Yuma'.