Don't that picture look dusty

Rating: 8/10 (27 May 2016)

An elegiac Western with a strong Terrence Malick flavour, Dominik's movie is thoughtful, slow-paced, as it follows the last year of life of outlaw Jesse James (Brad Pitt) through the eyes of Robert Ford (Casey Affleck), the young and initially starstruck gang member who eventually shot him.
Pitt is excellent as James - mournful, dangerous, enigmatic, a man of long silences who is just as likely to ponder over his own mortality as to hold a knife at your throat and study your reaction.
Affleck, with his squeaky voice and averting eyes, is also great as the uncharismatic rookie planning betrayal: his Ford is a cunning, duplicitous boy who is *almost* able to sell himself as loyal, but not quite - his answers a little too calculated, his pauses a little too tense, as you almost hear the wheels spinning in his head.
The supporting cast is strong, with a typically stellar turn by Sam Rockwell as Robert's brother Charley.
James' death scene is superb - the sad, weary Jesse essentially commits suicide-by-traitor - but what follows is even more interesting; having acquired ephemeral celebrity, Ford starts to re-enact the killing in theaters, at first uncannily oblivious to the growing contempt towards him. As his brother Charley (playing James for their farce) glares at him from the stage, and the audience boos him from the darkness, Ford recoils with anger and horror, realizing the price he paid for his fifteen minutes of fame.
A remarkable movie - and Roger Deakins' cinematography is something to behold - although anyone expecting a brisk, action-heavy, classic Western will be bitterly disappointed: this is a drama and a character study on themes like envy, mediocrity and deception, more "Amadeus meets Badlands" than Rio Bravo.
8/10