The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Upon viewing Andrew Dominik’s “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford,” I found myself questioning my attention span. I had trouble following the plot, characters and keeping the thread going. To be fair, I sometimes have the attention span of a 4-year old, but this film was too long and complicated for a Western - even the always-questionable narration didn’t help to hold things together.

Regarding the film’s postive aspects, there are several nice cinematogrophic touches: blurred shots that looked like old photographs, long sweeping panaromas of praries, and an overall grandiose feel. Most of the acting is very good, but, unfortunately, I think the most important role was miscast. Brad Pitt doesn’t provide, ironically, the charisma that the character demands. He has certain tics that he seems to fall upon that don’t fit the gravitas of the role. Casey Affleck is very good, although some might find his portrayal off-putting due to the quirks he incorporates - I feel this works, for the most part. Garret Dillahunt is excellent, as usual, as Ed Miller. Sam Shepard, as usual, is fantastic as Frank James. I’m divided on Sam Rockwell’s and Jeremy Renner’s performances. I think this movie also suffers from too many well-known actors. This brings up a reoccurring question concerning casting. Do you cast talented, well-known, actors or do you roll the dice with unknown actors? I feel that there is an abundance of talent out there, and a little more effort spent in finding a fresh face would have served this movie.

Fresher faces might have served, but not saved, the film because the story is too meandering and opaque. I felt you never truly understood the character’s motivations. You understand why the gang, including Robert Ford, wish to be part of the James’ gang, and you learn Ford’s hero-worship of James began at a young age. However, you’re never really sure what’s motivating Liddil and Miller’s betrayal. There’s a greed motive, but given the expressed notoriety of James being able to flush out those disloyal to him as well as the promise of future rewards being in James’s gang, why betray him? The most fascinating part of the story is after the assassination when Robert Ford is not greeted as a hero, but is somewhat reviled, yet, at the same time, goes on to star in a NYC play, recreating the assassination to rapturous audiences for over a year before his inevitable downfall.

In the end, though, this movie has aspirations of being a Western that breaks conventions, but fails. There aren’t any gunfights, there’s a lot of slow, lyrical shots, attempts to document the celebrity surrounding Jesse James Robert Ford, etc., that puts this solidly as an anti-Western, but it just didn't capture this viewer by turning the traditional Western on its head. With its 2 hours and 40 minutes running-time, it’s unfortunate that the most interesting part of the film doesn’t happen until after Robert Ford has pulled the trigger - the last 10 minutes. I agree with one review that said that this movie doesn’t know if it wants to eliminate or hold up the outlaw-hero.