Too much of everything

That was an excellent one.

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

There's a complex nature to this Western, but it is poorly thought out in respect to what the directorial team tries to accomplish.The title is as misleading as possible. In this story, Robert Ford is a mixed up kid, and any cowardice on his part is simply animal survival instincts. He worships Jesse James, who turns out to be a complete monster, void of natural instincts and natural motivation.Jesse's motivation is pure demonic possession, nothing more. The animal instinct of eliminating the weak from the pack is lost in him. He wants to eliminate, but he has not the slightest idea on how to judge what is weak.And truly it is lost in human beings, for whatever reason. There are actual people, and I'm sure most people of this era have met them, who have no motivation that is natural. They simply are possessed of demons, and are determined to play God with other people's lives, without the slightest natural instinct of how to do it.Such is the case with Jesse in this movie, and that much is depicted correctly, although the old History books make it seem that Frank James was the "God playing" brother, while Jesse may have been more likely to relent.Still, as depicted in this movie, that part succeeds. Jesse is a monster.However, for some reason, the ending indicates that Jesse was a winner because his corpse was paraded around and people got to applaud the end of a monster. Jesse wasn't there. Just his rotten corpse in all its humility, scoffed at by those who were glad a monster no longer lived among them.For some reason, the director-writer team seemed to believe this made Jesse superior to Ford, because Ford didn't have to contend with the notion that his corpse would be vilified some day. An odd thought that only makes sense to those brain dead sheep who think they do have the natural instincts of an animal, yet are as poor to judge as the Jesse of this movie was.Some hits, some misses.

The Plot. Taking place in the American Northwest in the early 1880s, the film dramatizes the last seven months in the life of famed outlaw Jesse James, beginning with the Blue Cut train robbery of 1881 and culminating in his assassination at the hands of Robert Ford the following April. In the time between these two fateful events, the young and jealous Ford befriends the increasingly mistrustful outlaw, even as he plots his demise. This pretentious title will tell you what you are in for. It's a nearly three hour slow moving borefest that takes forever to go anywhere.Could have been a truly great western but instead it plods along and puts you to sleep at frame one.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is a very excellent movie to some people, while to others it is viewed as boring and monotonous. The way you see this film is completely dependent on how you view film. Whether you view film as an art form that needs to be examined and analyzed, or you view film as a simple way to have fun.If you enjoy film as an art form, then you will most probably like this movie. The movie goes over topics like what is good and what is bad, what is accepted in society and what is not, how does fame affect our viewpoint on people, and etc. It's cinematography is beautiful, the acting is superb, and the script is well done. The score in this film is enough to give this film a six, at least in my opinion. The score is so enchanting and prolific to the figures represented in this film. Overall, if you enjoy dissecting and analyzing a meaningful art film, I would recommend this film to you.However, as excellent as the movie is, it still has it's drawbacks. For one, if you like films for the action, I wouldn't recommend this to you. The pacing is extremely slow, to the point where some parts can be incredibly boring. And I know there are people who expect this film to be exciting, considering it is a western, but the movie does not focus on the action. The movie focuses on understanding the minds of the characters in the story. So if you are interesting in seeing this movie, don't expect a traditional western. I want all of you to understand that this movie is not all about Jesse James. This movie is somewhat like a satire, a film that idolizes Jesse James to make you realize how much he really was idolized. It goes behind the mind of Robert Ford and some of the people closest to Jesse. The film doesn't want you to grow feelings of disgust towards Jesse James, but rather a feeling of understanding. In conclusion, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is a spectacle, but only to the right people.

So I put the DVD in the player and sit back to enjoy a good Western, but what happens? After a brief narration, there is at least five minutes of a bunch of actors in period dress talking 'bout fornicating with women, interspersed with Affleck mumbling to Shepherd. I'm thinking, has this movie officially started or did the director film some sort of rehearsal and accidentally put it into the finished product? Throw out any teaching of plot creation or advancement in this film. At about the five minute mark of this nonsense, I ejected the DVD.