The Assassination of Jesse James (2007)
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The Assassination of Jesse James Movie Review
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is a 2007 western film directed by Andrew Dominik and starring Casey Affleck and Brad Pitt. It’s very strong.
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“Don’t that picture look dusty?“
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Robert Ford tries to join the gang of Jesse James, an outlaw he has idolized since childhood. However, he later decides to murder him due to increasing resentment. Jesse James is an iconic US figure, beloved by many, and romanticized in so many westerns of yesteryear. But what the filmmakers set out to do here is completely change the narrative and portray him in a more realistic, less glorified manner, and all for the better. It worked stupendously, and it made for a more complex, powerful narrative.
I absolutely loved the story here, it’s so deep and it deals with many different themes and types of people so well. It immaculately portrays how myths and beloved historical figures are born and is thus a very relatable, modernized western that has excellent parallels to today’s celebrity-obsessed and monitored society. That entire ending was phenomenal for the history of it all. And of course the killing itself is the film’s selling point as that scene is so immensely, even excruciatingly suspenseful. The tension was palpable throughout the movie, but it culminated in that superb scene.
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However, where the film fails is at capturing audience’s attention. I unfortunately agree with many critics who pinpointed its pacing and runtime. The movie runs at two and a half hours which was simply unnecessary for this particular story, and the pacing is so languid and leisurely throughout that it becomes quite exhausting to follow, even excruciatingly slow at times. That is one and only big flaw of the film that prevented it from reaching the classic status, though I do believe it’s going to benefit on a second viewing and over time for myself and for most others as well.
Going back to the positives, another area where the picture triumphs is in the acting, and casting as everyone was brilliantly cast here. Sam Rockwell is memorable in his role, though never uglier as they made him so physically unappealing here. Brad Pitt exudes charisma and star power per usual, and he was excellent for this not that usual role for him as it’s less good and heroic.
But the standout has to be Casey Affleck. What he did here is spectacular. His Robert Ford becomes real, complex and deep. His performance is amazing, all the more admirable for such a young age. He plays this complex role with utter confidence and an ability to portray all emotions highly believably. Just watching his face is a powerful experience as he copes with intimidation, fear, ambition, regret and so on. The dangers of idolizing are so well explored here. He got his Oscar for ‘Manchester by the Sea’, but he should have gotten it for this amazing performance, and that somehow did not happen.
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The Assassination of Jesse James also features excellent technical aspects. Roger Deakins’ cinematography is per usual stunning, the costumes are great and the attention to detail is strong. The film is very slow and long and badly edited, but at least the direction is good and the themes, script and dialogue are all stellar. I just wish it was more restrained in its build-up as it’s not the greatest case of a slow burn out there.
Though incredibly long, languid in pace and even excruciatingly slow at times, The Assassination of Jesse James is still one of the better westerns out there. The themes of idolizing, celebrity culture and the myth creation are so well explored while the tension is palpable and pervasive throughout. The casting was excellent as Brad Pitt exuded a lot of charisma and star power playing Jesse James whereas Casey Affleck is a true revelation here. He played very complicated, complex Robert Ford flawlessly, and watching numerous emotions play out on his face was quite powerful in a performance that undoubtedly should have gotten him an Oscar.
