The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)

Robert Ford, who's idolized Jesse James since childhood, tries hard to join the reforming gang of the Missouri outlaw, but gradually becomes resentful of the bandit leader.

Director:

Andrew Dominik

Writers:

Andrew Dominik (screenplay), Ron Hansen (novel)

Stars:

Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck, Sam Shepard

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 30 wins & 41 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Brad Pitt	...	Jesse James
Mary-Louise Parker	...	Zee James
Brooklynn Proulx	...	Mary James
Dustin Bollinger	...	Tim James
Casey Affleck	...	Robert Ford
Sam Rockwell	...	Charley Ford
Jeremy Renner	...	Wood Hite
Sam Shepard	...	Frank James
Garret Dillahunt	...	Ed Miller
Paul Schneider	...	Dick Liddil
Joel McNichol	...	Express Messenger
James Defelice	...	Baggagemaster (as James DeFelice)
J.C. Roberts	...	Engineer
Darrell Orydzuk	...	Ukranian Train Passenger
Jonathan Erich Drachenberg	...	Young Train Passenger

Storyline

The last months of Jesse James's life, from meeting Robert Ford, a 19-year-old who idolizes Jesse, to the day Ford shoots him. Jesse's a wanted man, living under a pseudonym, carrying out a train robbery, disappearing to Kentucky, and reappearing to plan a bank holdup with Robert and Robert's brother as his team. The rest of the gang is dead, arrested, or gone from Missouri. Whenever Jesse's around, there's tension: he's murderous, quixotic, depressed, and cautious. Ford wants to be somebody and wants the reward. On April 3, 1882, things come to a head: Jesse is 34, Robert 20. Ford becomes famous, reenacting the shooting on stage, facing down the label "coward," shot dead in 1892.

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Plot Keywords:

long title | outlaw | train robbery | train | robbery | 

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Taglines:

Beyond the myth lies America's greatest betrayal.

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Genres:

Biography | Crime | Drama | History | Western

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Certificate:

14A

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Warner Bros [France]

Country:

USA Canada UK

Language:

English Danish

Release Date:

30 November 2007 (UK)

Also Known As:

L'assassinat de Jesse James par le traître Robert Ford

Filming Locations:

Fort Edmonton Park - Fox Drive and Whitemud Drive, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£180,886 (UK) (30 November 2007)

Gross:

$3,904,982 (USA) (25 January 2008)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros., Jesse Films Inc., Scott Free Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

160 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS DTS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sam Shepard (Frank James) was in his 60s and Brad Pitt (Jesse James) was in his 40s during filming. The characters they play are supposed to be in their 30s. Casey Affleck was in his early 30s which approximates Bob Ford's age during the epilogue but is much older than Ford's age during the main plot.

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Goofs

When the photographer photographs Jessie James's corpse, he replaces the lens cap on the camera and then thanks everyone for standing still. He then removes the film holder from the back of the camera and doesn't insert a dark slide to protect the sheet of film. Either the film would have gotten ruined, or if the dark-slide wasn't removed before taking the photo, no image would have been recorded.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: He was growing into middle age, and was living then in a bungalow on Woodland Avenue. He installed himself in a rocking chair and smoked a cigar down in the evenings as his wife wiped her pink hands on an apron and reported happily on their two children. His children knew his legs, the sting of his mustache against their cheeks. They didn't know how their father made his living, or why they so often moved. They didn't even know their father's name. He was listed in the city ...

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Crazy Credits

The film does not contain either an opening title nor intro credits. The film title is displayed first after the final fadeout.

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Connections

References Gladiator (2000)

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Soundtracks

Good Ol' Rebel Soldier
(uncredited)
Lyrics by Innes Randolph
Sung by Jeremy Renner

User Reviews

Amazing Work of Art

Wow, does this film have style or what? The Assassination of Jesse Jamed by the Coward Robert Ford, is one of the longest titles I've ever seen for a film and the movie's run-time follows the same pattern. I have no problem with this. I would sit through a ten hour "Jesse James" because of the excellent tone given out by director Andrew Dominik. The frozen Missouri/ Kansas landscapes are a treat for the eyes. The musical score does its job: to blend into the film so subtly that I cant imagine the images on the screen without it. The narration neither detracts or adds to the tone, although there is one bit of bad editing that confused my friend as to whether the narrator was speaking or a man's voice had been dubbed poorly.

"Jesse James" delves deep into the inner conflicts and emotions of every character. We live with them, eat with them, and often feel their pain or their confusion. This confusion is often associated with the bi-polar nature of the film's central character, Jesse James, played by none other than Brad Pitt. Casey Affleck delivers a subtle performance here that actually becomes the most effective as the film progresses over its 160 minute running time. I hated Robert Ford for a good portion of the film, thought he was so annoying and clingy that it was a wonder Jesse James didn't kill him within the first day of their complex relationship. But then, as I sat through the so called "gruelling" running time of the film, I learned to feel for him and understand his motives and attraction for Jesse. But ultimately, his childhood, comic book worship of the famous outlaw changes.

The "style" of the film is evident in the first frame of passing clouds. Roger Deacon's cinematography is the best I've seen since Conrad Hall's work in Road to Perdition, perhaps better. He is definitely winning the Oscar this year, between this and No Country For Old Men. There is a scene involving a train robbery where the visuals and utter style blew me away. The lighting and camera direction becomes more subtle and less noticeable after the train scene, but, does not lessen in quality and pure artistry. There is a topic on the IMDb message boards approaching the topic of whether certain films should be labeled "art films." Well all films are works of art, some are horrendous, some are extraordinary. Well, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is an extraordinary work of art.