Absolutely amazing

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

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.

There's always a temptation to get over-analytical with the revisionist Western sub-genre. These moody movies, like "Shane", "McCabe & Mrs. Miller" or "Unforgiven" paint a portrait of the Old West at the twilight of its existence. Whether from the perspectives of Natives and homesteaders who, realize the march of progress is a roller-coaster ignoring the values of individual lives or outlaws and marshals discovering that they belong to a dying breed of men, the Old West shrunk like a Balzac pebble-leather taking with it the frontier spirit.The "end of an era" is the most prevalent element of modern Western and Andrew Dominik's "Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford", a film served by impeccable acting and hypnotic cinematography by Roger Deakins. There's an obvious kinship between this title and "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance", we care less for the death, which awaits us all than the way fate lures the primarily concerned to the deadly encounter. And the Jesse James we see is played by a self-conscious but oddly poignant Brad Pitt, like a living ghost, a man floating above the darker shadows of fame with a magnetic aura. Ask anyone today about Jesse James, words 'outlaws', bank robberies will come to mind but also that nickname that earned his ticket to posterity: Robin Hood. Yes, this is the Old West, quoting "Liberty Valance", "when legend becomes fact, print the legend". At the Civil War's aftermath, people could find excuses to criminals, and Jesse James was always seen as a man faithful to the Confederate flag and who robbed Yankees banks to repair injustices. This is certainly a shortcut from reality, he certainly killed more innocent men than Robert Ford, but James is a legend nonetheless. You can tell it from the morbid attraction his death gathered, the quasi-mystification of his life or any item he ever approached. You can just tell it by the number of movies or books made about him, while Robert Ford, will always be associated to the word 'Coward', Judas, backstabber. But no one would want such a reputation, and certainly not Ford who only wanted to join the gang, along with his brothers and has his share of James' fame.Robert Ford is certainly one of the most fascinating cinematic characters of the last two decades; he was certainly overlooked because 2007 saw the more iconic and larger-than-life Anton Chigurh from "No Country for Old Men". But Ford embodies this puzzling correlation between death and admiration; one that caused John Lennon to be killed by a fan. Ford is a man who knows the times of Old West legends is coming to an end and wants to make a name out of his, believing he's "destined for great things". But this is a man who's not the tenth James is, he's awkward, effeminate, full of shy mannerisms that immediately betray a sneaky side of his personality. One minute with Frank James (Sam Shepard) and the old man draws his gun, telling him to get out because he "gives him the willies". But it seems like his brother Jesse is more tolerant.Indeed, Jesse James gives Bob a chance and starts a weird relationship whose culmination is the titular assassination. Bardem won the Oscar for "No Country" but he played a villain, albeit not one-dimensional. Casey Affleck (who got many awards nods, including the Oscar) plays something that is lower than the concept of the villain but more spectacular in terms of acting, he's the wimp, the well-meaning but ultimately weak man whose personal hubris conducts him to kill people who actually appreciated him, he's Jerry Lundegaard in "Fargo" or Fredo Corleone and it takes some super acting to play these awkward and highly contemptible people. Affleck even adds a dimension of troll-faced, double-crossing youth that makes him even scarier.The fact that at the end, we still feel sorry for him says a lot about the beauty of the film. We understand that he meant "well", he wanted to be a new Pat Garrett, yet he didn't understand his world. He didn't foresee that reenacting 800 times the assassination would only make him an even more detestable public figure while he could have left the killing a mystery. There was no witness besides his brother Charley (Sam Rockwell) Ford could have claimed it was self-defense, people would have suspected him, he might even have been killed anyway, but how could he ever believe that he would earn a heroic reputation by explicitly killing someone in the back and taking pride from it.Ford became a living ghost in suspended sentence, waiting to be killed; his name would forever be associated with James, but not the way he intended. The film, while not forgiving the action of Ford, presents him like a tragic figure victim of unfortunate illusions. And I have a feeling that he was also victim of James, the film insists on showing James as a man of fading health, growing paranoia and irrational behavior, being chased by all the Marshalls of the country would drive anyone insane. Many times, James take someone for "a ride" and we understand it's the euphemism mobsters use for "take care", the plot isn't always clear but it efficiently highlights the mindsets that inhabits the two main characters, the cast does justice to the film, Jeremy Renner and Rockwell especially, but it's all between Pitt and Affleck. And I had the feeling Pitt chose the suicidal angle, he who always rides behind a man, lowered his guard with Ford, gave him a gun, taunted him, threatened his brother as if he was really asking for his death, it's like a hypnotic macabre dance lead by James who knew the last step before immortality was a legendary murder. Ford served him that on a silver platter.One could even ask who really 'assassinated' the other?

What can be said about this movie? The title (which I believe serves the movie in an excellent way) gives every plot point away from the beginning so what you're left with is to sit and enjoy the ride. This western is not all about shootouts and action, but the fatal relationship of mankind with betrayal, fame, myth and judgment. The cinematography is amazing, the rendering magnificent. The long time it runs allows the viewer to travel at the locations and observe the characters from every possible angle. The vulnerabilities of each are portrayed in such a way that the viewer cannot choose a "side", and the relationship between Robert Ford and Jesse James is extremely exciting to watch unfold. The best way to watch this movie is like observing a piece of art in a museum. It becomes asserted on the viewer, or as Stephanie Zacharek said "this film represents a breakthrough in the movie-going experience. It may be the first time we've been asked to watch a book on tape." Maybe visual poetry would be the only way to describe it. The soundtrack of the movie signed by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis is just as magnificent and frames the movie amazingly. Great performances by Sam Shepard, Mary-Louise Parker and Sam Rockwell, but the two protagonist's portrayals, Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck, are mesmerizing and steal the show. A must watch.

Released in 2007 and directed by Andrew Dominik, "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" stars Brad Pitt as the famous outlaw in a chronicling of the last seven months of his life. The movie begins with the Blue Cut Train Robbery that took place in Missouri on September 7, 1881. Casey Affleck co-stars as Robert Ford, a 20 year-old member of Jesse's gang, who kills James for the reward, but also (presumeably) because he and his brother, Charles (Sam Rockwell), feared Jesse was going to kill them. The final 25 minutes detail the Ford brothers lives over the course of the next decade after James' execution on April 3, 1882. Paul Schneider,Garret Dillahunt, Jeremy Renner, Sam Shepard, Mary-Louise Parker, Kailin See and Zooey Deschanel have notable support roles.This is a funereal, realistic Western consisting of long dramatic sequences spiced with flashes of violence. Although critically praised, it bombed at the box office and some people scoff at it as a slow bore, but I found it pretty mesmerizing, even haunting. There are numerous highlights during its 2 hour and 40 minutes, like the opening train robbery, the outhouse rendezvous between Schneider and See, the tense gunfight in the upstairs of a frontier house, Jesse's death and the interesting aftermath.The movie makes a point of depicting Jesse as a paranoid man on his way to an early grave because of his foolish choice to be an unrepentant outlaw. At least Frank James (Shepard) had the scruples to leave outlawry and move east. Jesse is shown lamenting what his life had become and even shooting one of his comrades in the back, like a coward, not to mention abusing an adolescent. Yes, Ford later shoots Jesse in the back, but it had to be done. Jesse's days were numbered due to his own bad choices. Plus Robert and his brother were afraid that Jesse was going to shoot them at any moment. Also keep in mind that Jesse wasn't no frickin' Robin Hood; he stole from the rich and regular folks alike and gave to... well, himself. In light of all this the title of the movie is purely ironic, but when the legend becomes fact, print the legend, as they say.The Alberta and Manitoba locations are picturesque, but they don't look like Missouri and Kentucky (and surrounding states), where the events took place. These are Eastern states, albeit "midwest." The locations in the movie look like what they are -- the northern prairie. "The Long Riders" (1980) is more accurate on this count.GRADE: B+