The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford (DVD)

The film follows the last days of Jesse James' life from the day he first meets his assassin Robert Ford till his death.

Casey Affleck plays Robert Ford, an insecure 19-year-old young man who idolises Jesse James and gets a chance to first meet him by being brought along by his older brothers to do a job with the James brothers. James and his brother Frank do not show the same desire for fame and fortune as their posse. They are tired ...
...staying in his house after the robbery and truly worshipping him. James on the other hand is not happy with his life afterwards he seems unsettled and goes onto visit all the members of the old gang. Terrorising some of them and killing some of them. He is becoming extremely paranoid believing that he cannot be at peace whilst these people are alive. Ford grows to fear James, he is disillusioned with the actual man compared to the myth. James is ... more

The film follows the last days of Jesse James' life from the day he first meets his assassin Robert Ford till his death.

Casey Affleck plays Robert Ford, an insecure 19-year-old young man who idolises Jesse James and gets a chance to first meet him by being brought along by his older brothers to do a job with the James brothers. James and his brother Frank do not show the same desire for fame and fortune as their posse. They are tired of their life, they want to live in peace but can't stay too long in one place in fear of being arrested. They decide on one last job to pay their final way.

Ford begins to grow very close to James, staying in his house after the robbery and truly worshipping him. James on the other hand is not happy with his life afterwards he seems unsettled and goes onto visit all the members of the old gang. Terrorising some of them and killing some of them. He is becoming extremely paranoid believing that he cannot be at peace whilst these people are alive. Ford grows to fear James, he is disillusioned with the actual man compared to the myth. James is not everything he read about, he is violent and cold. He is torn between love, fear and hatred of the man. He eventually decides to collaborate with the police and bring about James' demise. (That's hardly a plot spoiler as the title says it all)

Casey Affleck's performance is amazing; he conveys the myriad of conflicting emotions his character is feeling fantastically. His love for James seems so sincere and on the verge of homosexuality and his disappointment is so heartfelt you sympathise with him. The assassination scene is so well performed, they can barely bring themselves to the act, and the inner turmoil is portrayed beautifully in the film. The betrayal rips Ford apart and Affleck has received and been nominated for various awards for Best Supporting Actor. However, this surprises me, as although Jesse James is the title character I thought the film revolved a lot more around Robert Ford than it did Jesse James. Affleck definitely getting more screen time.

Pitt too manages an amazing performance, he depicts James' tired, drained attitude; his growing paranoia and his sense of betrayal and disappointment superbly. He seems to know that Ford is going to betray him but much like a Jesus figure he gives himself up to it not being able to bear turning on Ford. Pitt truly is a very versatile actor despite some of the crap films he chooses to be in and this one does him well. Jesse James' descendants praised him for his performance.

The two of them put up stunning performances you both disliked and liked their characters such was the realism.

The cinematography is masterful, within the first ten minutes of the film you will see the amazing scene just before they rob the train. The train slows as it approaches the blockade and lights flash past the trees momentarily illuminating the masked figures waiting as a silhouette of James stands with his back to the camera, on the steamy track. The musical score is also immaculate. In this particular scene there was a cello-violin duet that was harrowing, dark and melancholy. It is used throughout the film and really develops the mood. The film is obviously based on a novel, this is not only apparent from the narrative voice we occasionally hear but from the directing.(It is in fact based on a novel of the same title by Ron Hansen) Andrew Dominik, the director, focuses on the landscape allowing it to provide the ideal atmosphere and sometimes even wonders around the setting when characters are talking. There are several beautiful but grim western landscapes that all seem taken from a novel and I think Dominik has done a great job and I was surprised to see this is only the second film he has directed the first being "Chopper".

I really enjoyed this film; I wanted to watch it again the day afterward. I'm a big western fan and that's why I bought this film but this isn't a western in the gun-slinging Clint Eastwood sense. This is a drama about the relationship between these two men and how events unfolded because of the deteriation of Ford's delusion.

There were no DVD extras and I should point out that the DVD I bought had a cover that looked nothing like the one that Ciao has. Maybe there are various DVD covers out there. There were no DVD extras and the DVD cost me £10.97 in Tesco and I believe it to have been well worth the money.

It is certificate 15 in the UK, due to some strong and lurid language and violent scenes.

Ridley Scott also produced the film. Sam Rockwell (who is perhaps most famous for playing Wild Bill in The Green Mile) is also in the film as Robert Ford's brother Charlie. He plays his usual persona for most of the film but he out done anything he's ever done before in the assassination scene and the ensuing stage plays in the film.

Also just as a warning this film lasts 2hrs 40 minutes

Watching this film again many months later it doesn't have the same appeal. All the above is still true but the film lacks "watchability". You get everything you're going to get out of it that first time. The second time I started to feel that it is a bit slow and it drags too much in places and in consquence despite being a very good film I would not recommend you buy this film. It is worth watching but not a very good DVD to have as you can't really watch it again and again and I have decided to get rid of my copy 

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