Excellent but historical flawed

Rating: 8/10 (3 July 2011)

Many claim that "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford " of 2007 contains a historic accurate account of the story and aftermath of the Jessie James assassination. But there is plenty evidence that there are some flaws inside Andrew Dominik's screenplay and Ron Hansen's novel.
In 1940 Fritz Lang directed "The Return of Frank James" where Frank is getting acquitted by the State Court of Missouri after being in jail a year awaiting trial. On Monday August 27th, 1883, the court-case of the State of Missouri v. of Frank James was resumed, which was the third day of his trial. On Monday September 3rd, 1883 Frank James was acquitted. During the trial Frank Woodson James learned about the real facts surrounding the assassination of his brother Jessie, and no doubt went on his own bounty hunt to get Charles and Robert Ford, using the name Ben J. Woodson. Today it is apparently "universal evident" that Frank James never went after the Ford Brothers. I have my sincere doubts .
In 1939, a year before producing "The Return of Frank James", Fritz Lang became a naturalized citizen of the United States, after arriving in Hollywood in 1936. Would Fritz Lang create a movie with inaccurate historic facts surrounding Jessie James and the Ford brothers, having just received citizen ship and making his large screen arrival with Henry Fonda in the leading actor role as Frank James ?
In recent years a Dog and Pony show entitled "Outlaws of Missouri" has been annotated to Robert Ford, which according legendsofamerica.com was used by Bob Ford to obfuscate the real facts surrounding the murder : "Night after night, Ford retold his story, carefully omitting that he had shot James in the back. " Inside "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" of 2007 we see Robert Ford in his theater show "Outlaws of Missouri" clearly shoot Jessie James from behind. So there is something very fishy there, as director Andrew Dominik also here clearly missed the motive for the Robert Ford theater play.
After knowing all this, this movie is indeed a must watch for anyone interested in the story behind the James gang.