THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford that hangs over this film like a bleak stormy rain cloud ready to unleash its might onto the beautiful landscape. I will give you a clue its in the title! Not that the ultimate spoiler any film has ever been so blatantly tagged with in the history of cinema is to any determent to the final piece, if anything we get a heightened awareness of the melancholic fable. We know exactly where its headed, the stares into each others souls from the notorious outlaw Jesse James (Brad Pitt) and his killer Robert Ford (Casey Affleck) turn into a dance of death that becomes the final duel and fateful ending that would give many a psychological expert a headache. Like a detective who has finished mopping up a crime scene we are anxious to know how the murder was put together and the real pleasure is finding out just what led Robert Ford into becoming the man whose grave is marked "The man who shot Jesse James". Ford killed the often romanticised and incorrectly dubbed Robin Hood figure (let's be honest James was no innocent man - he may have robbed mostly from the rich but he sure didn't give it to the poor) in Jesses own home where he lived with his wife and children sometime after breakfast one Monday morning. But what I didn't know and what I found most fascinating about the story was how much Ford adored James. He grew up reading about Jesse in half fictional/half truthful penny dreadful novels during his teenage years, he wanted to be as close to James as he could get and when James would talk down to him, he would get angry and start resenting him. Ford spent his whole life idolizing James - but it took him only a few months actually in his company before Ford would kill him. But why did he do it? I'm not sure he killed James for the fame - not directly anyhow. Was it jealously, an under-current of homosexual desire which wasnt returned, or was returned in a manner not to Fords liking? Was it for the massive financial award on James head or was it simply in self defence? Writer/director Andrew Dominik (whose first film Chopper, set entirely in a prison and starring Eric Bana is well worth a look) suggests that James knew and even enjoyed how different Robert Ford was to everyone else he surrounded himself with and was fascinated by how much Ford is obsessed by him. He asks "Do you want to be like me or do you want to be me?" after Ford has lingered over a naked James in the bath tub. Jesse knows Ford is different and the most truthful thing Ford says in the film is to suggest an unnerving connection between them. After watching this film, the conclusion I came to was that Ford killed James because he wanted to both be him and admire him, two things that are impossible in this world. One thing that struck me almost straight away which I wasnt expecting when I finally got round to seeing the film was just how supremely confident and assured it's direction is. Back in the Summer, there was much talk about how the producers jumped onto the film at the last minute and re-cut Dominik's "slow-burner' vision to be more a typical Brad Pitt starring vehicle and when they concluded that the film couldn't be saved they released it quietly one September's weekend on limited release - letting James Mangold's 3:10 to Yuma win the audiences "Old West" hearts. Surprisingly then, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford does not feel chopped together in the slightest but maybe feels a little long though it remains bold and poetic in it's storytelling. It reads like a fable your grandfather would tell you in the dead of night when you dreamed about mythological figures from the West. Guided by an amazing narration from actor Hugh Ross (who is an amazing find), the film plays like a documentary but amazingly never loses it's core emotional centre. The title of the film, the knowing of the legend, the narrator telling us events and the fate of the characters before we see them play out and the film's leisurely pacing and gifted performances keep you interested. It's not a perfect film and certainly not a masterpiece, it's just very good. It's not a five star film because too much time is wasted on setting up the great supporting characters in the beginning of the film, then almost dismissed from the half way point without much reason as to why. Only the cackling Sam Rockwell (who is good in this don't get me wrong) seems to have any kind of narrative arc and resolution outside of the two leads. There's also a ton of slow moments in the mid point of the film, one that involves a terribly long scene with Brad Pitt that just seems to go on and on and on. For those worried about scenes being left out, the worry should have been the amount left in! A utterly pointless cameo from Zooey Deschanel again goes nowhere and was just begging to be left on the cutting room floor. As far as the lead performances go, Brad Pitt is brilliantly cast as Jesse James because in reality his persona isn't too far removed from him. Pitt is often in the spotlight, he is the one adored by millions of fans who want to know every shrouded detail of his personal life. He gives a great performance here - because after all you can forget sometimes when he does stuff like Mr. and Mrs. Smith and keeps up his star persona that he is actually capable of being a good actor but often when it comes to his big dramatic dialogue scenes your just not sure he can quite reach the bar that would finally win him his Oscar nomination. Correctly, he didn't win one here. Casey Affleck on the other hand gives a breakthrough performance as Robert Ford and along with Gone Baby Gone, he has sure stepped out of the big shadow that Ben cast over him for all those years. Casey plays the performance well on so many different levels that there is no way in hell he is going to be in the background of those Ocean's movies for much longer. He should be a good leading man for years to come. If you love true life fables and great character driven Westerns then this one comes highly recommended. It's a good film - a very very good film - the best dealing with the life of Jesse James - just not the masterpiece some would have you believe. rating: 4]