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 25 wins & 66 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

Taking place in the American Northwest in the early 1880s, the film dramatizes the last seven months in the life of famed outlaw Jesse James, beginning with the Blue Cut train robbery of 1881 and culminating in his assassination at the hands of Robert Ford the following April. In the time between these two fateful events, the young and jealous Ford befriends the increasingly mistrustful outlaw, even as he plots his demise.

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Plot Keywords:

name in title | male objectification | male name in title | idol | homoeroticism | 

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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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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some strong violence and brief sexual references

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Warner Bros [France]

Country:

USA Canada UK

Language:

English Danish

Release Date:

19 October 2007 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Assassination of Jesse James

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$147,812, 23 September 2007, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$3,904,982, 27 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

Zooey Deschanel: Dorothy Evans, a largely fictional composite of several historical showgirls in Ford's saloon.

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Goofs

Early in the movie when the gang members are talking in the woods, one man holds his shotgun in at least 2 different ways between shots. The shotgun also disappears and reappears between shots.

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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 Bad Movie Beatdown: Seraphim Falls (2009)

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Soundtracks

Oh, Susanna
(uncredited)
Written by Stephen Foster
Sung by Unknown

User Reviews

A Beautifully Textured Masterwork

This is a really amazing film. All the pieces - props, costume, camera-work, script, and acting - fit together as well as the finely crafted parts of a nickel-plated revolver. I was surprised I'd not heard more about it.

The film tells the story of the James Gang and specifically the fatal relationship of Jesse James and Robert Ford. During the course of the action we see darkness and light in everyone, even the "coward." Care is taken to finely pare into the psyches of these Outlaws and the cold world they walk in. I think I saw just about every emotion there is to have in these men and we can almost understand, even if we can't accept, what moves them in their deadly paths.

Pitt is both iconic and vulnerable - beautiful and frightening as Jesse James, a robber and killer who hoists up a reputation of fearless boss on one shoulder and charming folk hero on another. His character's movement through peril and praise reminds one of the great gangster characters from Scorsese's work, with an added rawness that only Pitt and a few others can genuinely summon. His fatalism is also quite entrancing and subtly masterful.

Affleck is truly mesmerizing as a born misfit who is so uncomfortable in this world around him, that his neuroses, if they can be called that, really get into your skin. I was reminded of Joaquin Phoenix's role as Comodus, but it's even more intense and yet so very believable. As the audience, I was torn between pitying the character, being utterly disappointed in him, and just wanting him to somehow be better. And the script's maturity really comes into play with this character. No one is beyond reproach, understanding, or grim fate.

I'd say that's the main theme here: fate.

There's no easy formula. No one simply "gets what's coming to them." There are no simple villains or heroes. There's just life and the actions taken and the echoes of those actions and eventually, an end. It transcends any petty ideas of justice or even legend. It takes a full snapshot of a beautiful and grim reality and lets us just take it in, like a corpse on ice. Profound by presentation alone.