The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
April 28th, 2010 Filed under: Uncategorized — Movie Critic
Beautifully shot by director of photography Roger Deakins, this film makes no apology for taking its long-delayed production from page (Ron Hansen’s novel) to screen but this is as much Casey time in arriving at the inevitable climax. Brad Pitt may have been the star power that drove this Affleck’s film as Mr. Pitt’s. Both put in career best performances but with startlingly different results. Whereas Pitt’s take on the famous outlaw is all swagger, charm and bluster, Affleck’s Ford is pale, weak and deeply restrained; coming across as an unbalance mix of ambition and folly. You only have to look into his eyes for a second to see the crushing desire to be more than he is, to reach above the limitations placed upon him by his surroundings and those he rides with. Doubtless Mr. Pitt will likely be overlooked come award season but Affleck will certainly ride off into the sunset with at least one new ornament for the mantelpiece.
Starting out in the final few months of Jesse’s life, the film, right from the opening credits aches of dusty beauty and melancholy. In fact, the entire film, aided by the fact that we all know the end result, never deviates from the slow creep feel of dread and isolation; they may ride as a pack but each of these men is very much alone in their own way.
The shots and edits are of a traditional more ‘conservative’ style, and it works perfectly. Accompanied by a haunting, maudlin score you find yourself entirely sucked into the world of the James gang, riding alongside them throughout the final, destructive days of their lives.
Many will struggle with both the length and unstinting pace but for those that chose to stick with it, to embrace it as the old school, stripped bare western that it is, is one of the year’s best films waiting for them. In another director’s hands this could easily have turned into yet another frenetic actioner that may as well be filled with intergalactic pilots as cowboys. But thankfully, Dominik clearly had a very specific outcome in mind (writing the screenplay himself); to create a modern day masterpiece on his own terms. Not since Unforgiven has this particular genre been treated with the gravitas that it deserves. The wilderness has served as an ideal backdrop in which we can watch men entirely lose themselves or, sometimes, find themselves once again.
In short; a slow, powerful and moving account of the fall of a true American outlaw. No over the top theatrics, no rounding the wagons or drunken bar brawls, just a handful of men each doing what they need to in order to survive in an environment that will appeal and repel in equal measure.
Top filmmaking that will be held in very high regard for a long, long time.
5 out of 5
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