4. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)
Andrew Dominiks spacious, gorgeously shot epic of a legendary American outlaw and the man who killed him might be the best western of the new millennium. Its certainly the most underrated. Featuring a solid, understated performance from Brad Pitt as Jesse James, a ridiculously talented cast of bit players and a haunting turn by Casey Affleck as the obsessed, troubled Robert Ford, the film moves slow in getting to the eventual assassination, but never feels like its wasting our time. Instead, we see a complete picture of an age and the people who inhabited it. We see the legends and those that want to follow them, the law and the outlaws, the land and the blood that's spilled on it. At times, Dominiks film feels like more than a story, it feels like a portrait of a lost era. Between James and Ford, we see the end of one age blurring into the start of another. Whats most powerful is the sympathy we end of feeling for all involved. Everyone wants to be remembered. But some are simply destined to be damned by history for their actions.