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I had every intention of not finishing this movie. A friend of mine had
the DVD and I picked it up with mild interest, along with a few others,
to borrow for the coming week. ‘Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck are good
actors,’ I thought, and I didn’t know that much about Jesse James. Why
not? I popped in the movie, sat on the couch and perused the back of the
DVD as the opening credits played. 160 minutes!? Were they serious or
was that in dog years? A
cockfight with a trash talking rooster couldn’t keep my attention for
more than five minutes, let alone a 160 minute movie. Despite my unease
at the commitment this movie would force me to make, I watched. I
watched and I became interested.
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The biggest factor leading to my
newfound interest was the narrator, Hugh Ross. The movie
opened with Ross’ raspy voice describing the facts about
Jesse’s life (played by Brad Pitt.) His narration was
peppered throughout the film, recounting details about both
James and Ford (Casey Affleck) when the plot was starting to
drag, doing just enough to keep my attention. The narration
added more authenticity to the film, and gave it the feel of
a movie based more on fact rather than an artistic
adaptation of the historical event. |
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The film follows the James gang,
focusing primarily on Jesse James and Bob Ford, as they plan
robberies and eventually split apart at the end of their criminal
careers. Of all the characters, Brad Pitt’s portrayal of the younger
James brother was by far the coolest. When he plays with his kids,
it’s charming, when he talks to his gang members he’s smooth, and
when he snuffs out his enemies, he’s so badass. Pitt’s depiction of
James makes it easy to see why so many people idolized this 19th
century thief and murderer. By the end of the movie, even I was
kicking around the idea of becoming a professional train robber.
Andrew Dominik’s sophomore directorial effort (his first, Chopper
[2000], was also a crime biography) does a good job transitioning
from the opening storyline about the relationship between Jesse
James the confident criminal and Robert Ford the star-struck
wannabe, to the eventual deterioration of their relationship due to
James’ paranoia and Ford’s disillusionment with James. The movie
also makes a point of detailing the aftermath of Ford’s murder of
James, which was a nice tying up of loose ends.
Yes, I finished it. And yes, the narrator kept me interested. But
the movie was entirely too long. The only way I could complete it
was by watching it in five separate chunks. I had to schedule it as
a part of my daily routine in order to make sure I’d finish it: wake
up, eat breakfast, go to work, eat dinner, take a shit, watch The
Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, eat a bowl
of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, go to sleep. When you have to force
yourself to watch a movie between taking a shit and eating your
favorite cereal, there’s a problem.
Another aspect of the movie I didn’t like was the Robert Ford
character. I was torn between touting this point as ‘good’ or as
‘bad.’ It could have been ‘good’ because Affleck does a great job
playing the part. I hold no grudges against him; he did his job
well. I ultimately chose to consider the character a negative aspect
of the movie because the character he played just annoyed the hell
out of me. Apparently Robert Ford was a little weirdo who was
nothing more than a wannabe crook with a huge man-crush on Jesse
James. The way he moved and giggled and stared at Jesse James
longingly was eerie and made me feel uncomfortable. Even the
conversations he had with James were stalkerish and ‘I’m your number
one fan’-like. He was the west’s version of Selena’s Yolanda
Saldivar. He ultimately killed James and was mocked by his community
as a coward; I still didn’t like him much, but now I also felt bad
for the guy.
One final point to be made was the language used throughout the
film. I understand the need for authenticity with the slang and
dialect of the time period, but at times, I found the vernacular
somewhat confusing. Some of the conversations were akin to Dr.
Phil’s weird advice using bumpkin analogies about ‘foxes and
henhouses.’ The dialogue wasn’t completely unclear but it caused me
to exert so much initial focus that I was brought to the point of
leaving the subtitles on for the remainder of the movie.
After watching this film for five days straight, I will admit that it
kept my attention and taught me something about the assassination of
Jesse James. Despite this, if I had to do it all over again, I wouldn’t.
A fan of westerns may be less critical, but for me, watching Bob Ford
squirm under Jesse James’ glare for two hours and forty minutes took too
much effort on my part.
- James Carville
makes a cameo as some type of southern political official. Basically
James Carville plays the part of James Carville.
- Zooey Deschanel
shows up at the end as Bob Ford’s girlfriend. I just think she’s hot
and it was a pleasant surprise for me.
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