Don't read the title of the film unless you want to be spoiled

Rating: 9/10 (3 September 2008)

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford 9-3-08 Don't read the title of the film unless you want to be spoiled...oh wait too late. Yeah that seems to be the point. When people speak of films often the endings are brought up as the tipping point between good or bad. So much is made of having that "good" ending. What constitutes good seems to be a matter of taste. The girl getting the boy or the bad guy getting put away by the square jawed hero. What if when you sit down to view a film you already know exactly how its going to end...that by traditional standards it will end "badly"? Such a film would have to be more about the journey wouldn't it? TAOJJBTCRF is all about the journey to that moment the title prophesied. Its also a film concerned with the dispersity that exists between celebrity/legend and reality. Jesse isn't Robin Hood with a six shooter and Robert isn't the treacherous villain...the truth lies somewhere in between. Casey Affleck gives an incredibly nuanced performance that is quite literally a show stealer. Everyone else is on time as well including Mr. Pitt and Sam Rockwell. Visually the film is contemplative...filled with time elapsed shots of the clouds, lushly photographed western vistas and sets that feel authentic. The pace of the film reminds one of a novel rather than short story. It takes its time and to those with a.d.d. might be labeled "borring"