The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

A rather long slow and at times tedious film about the James Gang and then life after it for Jesse. Seen through the eyes of Bob Ford and the life he had after he shot Jesse.

Ignore the Most Helpful Members Review, this is a beautifully shot film, with great performances. Casey deservedly was nominated for an Oscar, a long but never boring piece of cinema.

Overly longwinded and far too dragged out. I dozed off twice and when I woke up nothing seem too have changed in the plot. Could not watch to the end as it was sooo slow.

A gorgeous musing (admittedly at great length) on the nature of celebrity and how it can be turned against you. Jesse James was killed by one of his own acolytes, a young man who he brought into his home and nurtured. Obviously this has repercussions on our own celebrity culture today but this is an excuse to wallow in an exquisitely rendered evocation of past times where violence is never far away. Pitt is stunning as Jesse James, part charming, part psychotic and racked with insecurities, Affleck is equally good as his shiftless nemesis, and Roger Deakins' photography is the real capping on this genuine work of art.

The cinematography was outstanding, utterly beautiful and stunning. This was the film's strongest asset and probably what most kept me watching.

Don't get me wrong I liked it, but I wanted to like it more. For once a voice-over didn't irritate. For only the second time Brad Pitt didn't irritate me (I think a mature Pitt is certainly a better actor). His Jesse was charismatic and charming, with a danger and anger just waiting beneath; but, see below ...

Casey Affleck was good; unnerving and unlikable as Bob Ford obviously was to those around him - although the film makes his unlikeability obvious, it remained puzzling and unexplained. As did Jesse's paranoia and volatility ... it's not enough for a voice-over to tell us these things, or characters to say or show them, it needed something more to make it believable. It's hard to explain how this failed but I don't think it was the actor's performances that were lacking.

Was Jesse waiting to be killed? or was the director on a go-slow, emotional pathos binge in that scene? I'm not sure, but I can understand if he was setting himself up; he seemed mentally ill, and probably physically so, as the narration underlined his two unhealed bullet wounds in his chest.

Also how underused was Mary Louise Parker, cooking and saying 'dinner's ready'? Obviously Zee loves Jesse but nothing much is made of this relationship, although some effort was made to develop Jesse's relationship with his children. Probably to make us feel sorry when he died ... overdone emotional manipulation/blackmail.

It was a classic case of a film that could have ended at least 3 times before it finally did; and it would have been a stronger film for it -- but I find this a lot in Hollywood films.