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 33 wins & 44 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

In the saloon scene, the "minstrel" is singing a memorial to Jesse James, the lyrics of which are based on the popular poem of the time, "The Ballad of Jesse James". Songs based on the poem have been recorded many times over the years, by artists such as, Woody Guthrie, Bob Seger, and The Pogues.

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Goofs

People in the saloon sing "A Bird in a Gilded Cage." The scene takes place in 1892; the song was written in 1900.

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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

Referenced in (500) Days of Summer (2009)

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Soundtracks

The Water Is Wide
(uncredited)
Traditional
Sung by Brooklynn Proulx

User Reviews

Hero Worship Turns Sour

Though Jesse James through the newspaper accounts of his exploits and through the dime novels of the day was already a legend, his immortality was sealed on April 3, 1882 by the manner of his death. The lengthy title of the film tells all or at least the official version of the story.

But was that accepted version the real story? For the first time the Ford brothers, Robert and Charley, get their due. As played by Casey Affleck, Robert Ford was a most complex character indeed. Ford is shown for what he was, a moonstruck kid who was brought up on those dime novels and idolized the legendary bandit. The fact that Charley was already riding with the James gang got him into the group.

After the last job the James gang pulled and the only Ford was ever in on, the Fords kind of attached themselves to Jesse James. Of course the idol is no hero. Brad Pitt plays a most unheroic Jesse.

Hints of Pitt's interpretation of Jesse's character are found in the classic portrayal of Jesse James by Tyrone Power. Remember when the laconic Henry Fonda as Frank James dresses Jesse down, tells him he's getting mean, meaner every day even with some of his own gang members? Power was showing signs of it, but we see Pitt as Jesse do some really brutal and cruel things. At the same time he's a loving husband to Mary Louise Parker and doting father to his two children.

As good as Pitt is I think the acting honors go to Casey Affleck. His gradual disillusion with his idol is really something to see on the screen. He becomes really scared of Pitt for reasons I won't reveal, but were definitely sufficient to want him to get Pitt.

We also get to see the Fords sorry aftermath. Things did not go so well for them. Bob Ford did not quite get the acclaim he would have liked as Jesse James became bigger after death than in life.

Frank James as played briefly in the beginning is an odd peripheral character in this film. The James brothers did separate some months before Jesse's death. Frank is played by Sam Shepard who has an encounter with young Bob Ford at the beginning of the film and announces to one and all, the kid creeps him out. But Jesse likes having the kid follow him around like a puppy dog to his ultimate regret.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is a very good western and we sure don't see too many of them in these times. It's shot in an unusual color, almost like one of those sepia-tone films that were in vogue for a brief spell. The location shooting was done in western Canada and looks a whole lot more like Missouri then than Missouri does now.