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Of all the movies made about or glancingly involving the 19th-century outlaw Jesse Woodson James, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is the most reflective, most ambitious, most intricately fascinating, and indisputably most beautiful. Based on the novel of the same name by Ron Hansen, it picks up James late in his career, a few hours before his final train robbery, then covers the slow catastrophe of the gang's breakup over the next seven months even as the boss himself settles into an approximation of genteel retirement. But in another sense all of the movie is later than that. The very title assumes the audience's familiarity with James as a figure out of history and legend, and our awareness that he was--will be--murdered in his parlor one quiet afternoon by a backshooting crony. The film--only the second to be made by New Zealand–born writer-director Andrew Dominik--reminds us that Dominik's debut film, Chopper (2000), was the cunningly off-kilter portrait of another real-life criminal psychopath who became a kind of rock star to his society. The Jesse James of this telling is no Robin Hood robbing the rich to give to the poor, and that train robbery we witness is punctuated by acts of gratuitous brutality, not gallantry. Nineteen-year-old Bob Ford (Casey Affleck) seeks to join the James gang out of hero worship stoked by the dime novels he secretes under his bed, but his glam hero (Brad Pitt) is a monster who takes private glee in infecting his accomplices with his own paranoia, then murdering them for it. In the careful orchestration of James's final moments, there's even a hint that he takes satisfaction in his own demise. Affleck and Pitt (who co-produced with Ridley Scott, among others) are mesmerizing in the title roles, but the movie is enriched by an exceptional supporting cast: Sam Shepard as Jesse's older, more stable brother Frank; Sam Rockwell as Bob Ford's own brother Charlie, whose post-assassination descent into madness is astonishing to behold; Paul Schneider, Garret Dillahunt, and Jeremy Renner as three variously doomed gang members; and Mary-Louise Parker, who as Jesse's wife Zee has few lines yet manages with looks and body language to invoke a wellnigh-novelistic backstory for herself. There are also electrifying cameos by James Carville, doing solid actorly work as the governor of Missouri; Ted Levine, as a lawman of antic spirit; and Nick Cave, composer of the film's score (with Warren Ellis) and screenwriter of the Aussie "Western" The Proposition, suddenly towering over a late scene to perform the folk song that set the terms for the book and movie's title. Still, the real costar is Roger Deakins, probably the finest cinematographer at work today. The landscapes of the movie (mostly in Alberta and Manitoba) will linger in the memory as long as the distinctive faces, and we seem to feel the sting of its snows on our cheeks. Interior scenes are equally persuasive. Few Westerns have conveyed so tangibly the bleakness and austerity of the spaces people of the frontier called home, and sought in vain to warm with human spirit. --Richard T. Jameson
 Customer Reviews 
great flick
Rating: 5
this is a great film. the historical research and details are impressive. don't see this if you're looking for a shoot em up western though. this isn't that at all. its more of a psychological biography on both jesse james and his assassin robert ford. enjoy!
I liked it........alot. 4 & 1/2 stars
Rating: 4
I have to agree with other reviewers that the music in this movie is very good, and the use of the music is even better. In fact, I am sure this would have been a much lesser movie without it. I have already downloaded the soundtrack.....outstanding!!
I would add that the narration is also outstanding. If you require duels, shootouts, guns a blazin' and horses kicking up the dust..skip this movie. Don't get me wrong, I like all that as much as the next guy, but you won't find it here.
It is hard to describe this film, part western, a little documentary, melancholy (a little Larry McMurtry), stirring, slow at times but emotionally moving, carefully crafted tension, and again, great music that carries the movie. The "slow" parts always lead to a dramatic and satisfying scene and the movie gets better as it progresses.
I really liked this movie although it is certainly not your typical western. This is not Silverado or 3:10 to Yuma, it is a completely different type of movie. This is a movie that you will not appreciate if you are watching it in your living room with a group of rowdy friends, or the kids running around and the phone ringing and the wife wanting you to take out the garbage. You really have to sit and watch this movie and let it draw you in....it will. And remember, the 2nd half of the movie is better than the 1st half, so hang in there.
I strongly disagree with anyone panning this movie or Brad Pitt's performance. I am not sure where they are coming from. Brad Pitt was very good and Casey Affleck was great, not that he was better than Brad Pitt but his character was more versatile in the movie. I have never been any huge fan of Brad Pitt, but his more recent movies and performances have been much better than his early career. (I am not including Ocean's 11 and the sequels because these were obviously not meant to be serious movies.)
If you need alot of Jean Claude Van Damme in your westerns, pass this one up. I am sure that many of the "boring" reviews are from people who want alot of "shoot'em up" action.
This is a very unique and satisfying film and I highly recommend it. Obviously they have romanticized and dramatized and made a few leaps in this movie, but you could also say that about 99.9% of the all the movies ever made.
Music-Movie Masterpiece. Disturbingly Violent.
Rating: 4
This movie uses music in the most effective way that I've "seen" thus far. Absolutely superb. Wonderful cinematography, really good acting and a great story. Only reason for 4 stars instead of 5 is the disturbingly violent scenes by Jesse James.
Lastly, its hard to like Brad Pitt any more these days but I have to continue to admit that he is a fabulous actor even if he's a twerp in real life.
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