Everyone in 1880s America knows Jesse James. He?s the nation?s most notorious criminal hunted by the law in 10 states. He?s also the land?s greatest hero lauded as a Robin Hood by the public. Robert Ford? No one knows him. Not yet. But the ambitious 19-year-old aims to change that. He?ll befriend Jesse ride with his gang. And if that doesn?t bring Ford fame he?ll find a deadlier way. Friendship becomes rivalry and the quest for fame becomes obsession in this virile epic produced in part by Ridley Scott and featuring gripping portrayals by Brad Pitt (winner of the Venice Film Festival Best Actor Award) as Jesse and Casey Affleck as the youth drawn closer to his goal?and farther from his own humanity.Running Time: 160 min.Format: DVD HD Genre: WESTERN/COWBOYS UPC: 085391137627 Manufacturer No: 113762

Of all the movies made about or glancingly involving the 19th-century outlaw Jesse Woodson James, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is the most reflective, most ambitious, most intricately fascinating, and indisputably most beautiful. Based on the novel of the same name by Ron Hansen, it picks up James late in his career, a few hours before his final train robbery, then covers the slow catastrophe of the gang's breakup over the next seven months even as the boss himself settles into an approximation of genteel retirement. But in another sense all of the movie is later than that. The very title assumes the audience's familiarity with James as a figure out of history and legend, and our awareness that he was--will be--murdered in his parlor one quiet afternoon by a backshooting crony.

The film--only the second to be made by New Zealand-born writer-director Andrew Dominik--reminds us that Dominik's debut film, Chopper (2000), was the cunningly off-kilter portrait of another real-life criminal psychopath who became a kind of rock star to his society. The Jesse James of this telling is no Robin Hood robbing the rich to give to the poor, and that train robbery we witness is punctuated by acts of gratuitous brutality, not gallantry. Nineteen-year-old Bob Ford (Casey Affleck) seeks to join the James gang out of hero worship stoked by the dime novels he secretes under his bed, but his glam hero (Brad Pitt) is a monster who takes private glee in infecting his accomplices with his own paranoia, then murdering them for it. In the careful orchestration of James's final moments, there's even a hint that he takes satisfaction in his own demise.

Affleck and Pitt (who co-produced with Ridley Scott, among others) are mesmerizing in the title roles, but the movie is enriched by an exceptional supporting cast: Sam Shepard as Jesse's older, more stable brother Frank; Sam Rockwell as Bob Ford's own brother Charlie, whose post-assassination descent into madness is astonishing to behold; Paul Schneider, Garret Dillahunt, and Jeremy Renner as three variously doomed gang members; and Mary-Louise Parker, who as Jesse's wife Zee has few lines yet manages with looks and body language to invoke a wellnigh-novelistic backstory for herself. There are also electrifying cameos by James Carville, doing solid actorly work as the governor of Missouri; Ted Levine, as a lawman of antic spirit; and Nick Cave, composer of the film's score (with Warren Ellis) and screenwriter of the Aussie "Western" The Proposition, suddenly towering over a late scene to perform the folk song that set the terms for the book and movie's title.

Still, the real costar is Roger Deakins, probably the finest cinematographer at work today. The landscapes of the movie (mostly in Alberta and Manitoba) will linger in the memory as long as the distinctive faces, and we seem to feel the sting of its snows on our cheeks. Interior scenes are equally persuasive. Few Westerns have conveyed so tangibly the bleakness and austerity of the spaces people of the frontier called home, and sought in vain to warm with human spirit. --Richard T. Jameson

I was hesitant in watching the movie as have never liked westerns and didn't want to see another a shoot'em up/kill the horses type movie. But, I'm big on biographies/history, love Brad Pitt as an actor, and read about the good reviews so thought would give it a chance. Brad as Jesse James was GREAT...and always easy on the eyes no matter what character he plays. But, I have to give the top praise to Casey Affleck as AWESOME playing Robert Ford. He made the movie so believable with his acting and think his voice is so unique/different. I then realized that I heard it in another movie..."Gone Baby Gone"...directed by his brother Ben Affleck which is also a good movie.

This flick has superb moody cinematography, and convincing supporting performances by Affleck, Shepard and Rockwell. The plot is slow and meandering, but the realism and indirect, understated psychology and motives are revealed in an interesting way. Pitt simply is not convincing as a bad guy or villian to me, despite having facial hair, talking in a lower tone, and engaging in extended staredowns with other characters. It is Affleck and Rockwell's acting in contrast that give what little sense of menace you get from the film. If you can get past that, then this movie is a realistic yet artisitic portrayal of Jesse James at a psychological level, at least in the movie's images and main character actions.

When I first saw this on DVD earlier this year, I remained transfixed in wonder at the sheer majesty of it. The story was told with such a clear voice, it immediately felt deeply personal. Then there was the stunning cinematography, which turned the landscapes into portraiture, and you couldn't help but become enveloped by the pure vastness of it. I remember trying to take it all in, and thinking how THIS would be one to savor on Blu-ray. The story luxuriates in a Wyeth-like beauty, in a style that captures something like the concentrated personalities staring back hard-eyed from the earliest black and white photographs, trying to say everything in the single instant of their pose. The impression of an era is recreated through a palette of rustic tones. To reinforce the flavor of early photography, some scenes are shot with a very shallow depth of field, so that the edges are blurry. Perhaps I'm overstating it, but it's simply the most beautiful western in the history of cinema. And not just in the way it looked, but in the way the story unfolds. Some people complained it moved too slowly, but, to me, it was a rich character study, and as such, there was always something happening, not necessarily as chronological events, but as tense exchanges between personalities. The pacing isn't slow as much as it is gradual and deliberate. This isn't just cinema; it's a meditation on time and place. It's hypnotic.

The Blu-ray met my every expectation, revealed what I knew I was missing in the SD edition. But the extra features were a bit disappointing. The only bonus on the disc was a single 30-minute documentary about the real Jesse James. It was interesting enough, for sure, but I wanted to know more about the movie itself, the people behind it, how they thought to present the subject this way. Mostly I wanted to know more about the incredible cinematography, which made this such an enriching experience. I could see in the documentary that there were some scenes shot for the film that didn't make it to the final cut. I would have liked to know more about those decisions. On the upside, it gives me some hope that maybe there's a Director's Cut in the future, an even longer version, in a special edition, at which point all will be revealed. For now, there's not even a director commentary.
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I heard many great things about this film, but unfortunately for me it just didn't hold my interest. The film moves along at a glacier's pace, which wouldn't be that bad if the story gave me something to grab on to. I could have read the book in the dark faster than watching this film!

On the plus side, I give the film makers credit for trying to make a serious western although not nearly as truthful as they would like you to believe. The acting is very good, with a strong cast and the film looks beautiful, but in the end, I knew where it was going and I didn't learn anything new, I didn't know at the beginning of the film! It's long, slow and will leave you scratching your head as the credits role.....if that's your idea of entertainment....then by all means........knock yourself out!

I'm surprised that I actually liked this movie. I thought the cinematography was great, Brad Pitt commanded the scene, and I found it highly suspenseful. IMHO they could have done without the voice over and I can see why the pacing could throw some viewers, but it worked for me.