The Assaination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Andrew Dominik, 2007): USA

Reviewed by Byron Potau. Viewed on DVD.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

There is much to appreciate in director Andrew Dominik’s revisionist western.  Even when a film is as well praised as The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is it can still not have received its due.  This is the case with this film which is one of the most lyrical and beautiful films in recent years.

The film follows the later part of Jesse James life from the last train robbery by the James Gang to Jesse’s eventual assassination and its aftermath.  However, the film is more about Robert Ford, his hero worship of Jesse James, the distrust that follows,  the betrayal,  the assassination, the fame that comes from that and the moniker of “Coward” that history has given him.  Ford attaches himself to Jesse in the hopes of becoming famous like him.  He seems to know that somehow or other his being famous will be tied to Jesse James, and he is convinced that he will one day do great things.

The film is long and slow paced, but extremely lyrical and moving.  The dreamlike music and gentle narration that opens the film seems indebted to Terrence Malick’s 1973 film, Badlands, and is a welcome and calming intrusion in the film every ten minutes or so to steady the slow, but fluid pace of the film.  The entire film has a very mellow seductive quality, very soothing.  Director Andrew Dominik never lets the film get too high nor too low.  Indeed, these qualities give it much in common with Malick’s film.

There is a misconception that Casey Affleck, who plays Robert Ford, is the supporting actor, but the fact is that Affleck’s second billing is due only to his name being smaller, in terms of marketability, than that of Brad Pitt’s.  With that said, Pitt is solid as Jesse James relying on his star power, and Affleck’s warm, sometimes creepy, broken voiced performance gives Robert Ford the depth and humanity the film was seeking to understand a very misunderstood man. 

Writer/director Andrew Dominik’s screenplay is excellent with the narration given a pitch perfect reading by Hugh Ross.  The music of Nick Cave and Warren Ellis lends itself brilliantly to the film’s pace and the visuals it accompanies. 

The film’s true supporting actor candidates, since Affleck really deserved to be among the best actor nominees, are Sam Rockwell as Robert’s brother Charlie, and veteran actor Sam Shephard as Frank James.  Rockwell’s delivery and mannerisms are in perfect harmony with Affleck’s performance resulting in a very great and underrated performance.  Shephard’s subtle, yet forceful performance as Frank is intriguing and we are left wanting a bit more of him on screen as his mere presence seems to imbue the film with class.  As it stands, it is a brief, but masterful performance. 

However, the real star of the film is Roger Deakins’s gorgeous cinematography, the best of his career.  Landscapes, snow, even water look so incredible it is as if we have never seen them before.  Daytime, nighttime, whatever setting we are put in Deakins’s camera seems capture it at its most seductive.  Visually speaking, this film is quite possibly the most beautiful ever filmed and easily deserved every cinematography award conceived.

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Published:
06.21.08 / 12pm
Category:
Films