a profound cinematic masterpiece

Rating: 10/10 (27 July 2009)

This movie is a profound cinematic masterpiece. To me, it is best seen as social commentary, a critique of a democracy/free society star system. In a democracy, the way people distinguish themselves is by attempting to become a star, a hero, a celebrity.
Jesse James was a celebrity, played by Brad Pitt, a star. Robert Ford was a non-entity, a confused youth, played by Casey Affleck, a fine actor but not a star (yet). The movie focuses on the star's inability to live a real life--he doesn't know what's real and what isn't. Is he a star? Do the people around him believe he's really a star? Can he trust anybody around him? Is he forced into paranoia? The movie portrays Jesse James as a victim of his own stardom. His doubt and distrust of the people around him are equivalent to doubting his own worth. He has become so distrustful of what is real that he is paranoid, depressed, and at least borderline suicidal. His death is shown as in part a suicide, but more importantly as an attempt to find the reality of his life. Is he a genuine hero--that is, does the confused Robert Ford really worship him? or is Jesse a fraud--that is, is Robert Ford so filled with envy that he's willing to murder Jesse? For Jesse, there's only one way to find out.
Jesse James's predicament is depicted in the movie as a central paradox of free and open democratic societies. What's real? Who are the heroes? Doesn't the implied but nevertheless real hierarchy of the star system twist and destroy democracy in a profound way, so that it becomes very difficult for citizens in a democracy to distinguish the true and the false, or to uphold real values? Do democracies self-destruct as they morph into a star system? Movie stars and other celebrities (Lady Di? John Dillinger?) would love this movie for its depiction of their predicament, and their society's predicament.
These profound themes make the movie heavy, but they also make it a classic thinking person's movie. It's an epic, and a great one. Cinematography, acting, and screenplay are all great. Directing was very good but flawed--the movie could have been faster paced, and with less mumbling. But it's nit-picking to point out flaws in a movie as great as this one.