Save your time and your money.

Rating: 1/10 (22 June 2010)

I'm not sure that I can offer much more about how almost all of the characters are less than two-dimensional, and more forgettable than the faces of other people in line at a grocery store.
I found myself wondering how this Jesse James got his name in the title without actually doing anything in the film. Saying that this film is about the legacy and death of such an infamous gangster/gun-slinger is like saying that Forrest Gump highlighted the failure that was the Vietnam war.
Basically, 3:10 to Yuma exemplified the energy, valor, and excitement that The Assassination... needed. I'll grant that the scenery is kind of nice, but it's lost amid the clutter of bodies and plot pieces that are littered through the film.
In my experiences, many of the finer films do require a second or third viewing before much of the nuances can be appreciated. Eraserhead, Dogville, Full Metal Jacket, they're loaded with symbolism and messages. This film left me reaching for meanings, trying to find some hint of an idea, but I was completely baffled and disappointed.
By giving this collection of scenes such a low review, I find myself wondering if everyone who gives it a high review has just convinced themselves that they liked it; sort of a way of dealing with a severe trauma.