The Assassination of Jesse James 2007
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is the full name of this movie. Obviously the writer had no problem taking his time and using plenty of words and that carries through into the movie as well. At its heart, this movie is about a celebrity (Jesse James) and his biggest fan (Robert Ford) with perhaps not so surprising results, given away in the title. When I picked the movie out to rent, I didn’t even realize that Brad Pitt was in the movie as Jesse James, but given his tabloid following, it certainly works.
Everyone in the movie is very understated, many of them because they are playing pretty dumb people. Pitt is the only one with real sparkle in his eyes, but he is a gangster easing into retirement. Robert Ford is played by Casey Affleck as a social misfit who idolizes and then is disillusioned about the legendary Jesse James. The whole movie plays out pretty slowly, but is enjoyable to watch. In many ways it is similar to Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven. It is a fictionalized but realistic representation of the gangster life in the Midwest during the 1880’s. The characters are good but there is not much of a plot and no one is terribly likeable. Therefore AJJCRF misses being really good, but is still enjoyable to watch. B.
Written: 30 Jul 2009