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

CURRENT RATINGS:

7/10 Movie: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)

I remembered hearing good things about this film a few months back so I decided to watch it... I like a good western after all. After watching it though, i wasn't quite sure how I felt about it.

I guess its a good film, but, then again, it kind of annoyed me too... with its slow pacing for starters. Its long and relatively low energy for long stretches. Also it seemed like the director Andrew Dominick or maybe the cinematographer were trying to put as many 'artsy' shots in as possible: lots of waving wheat, lots of blurry images shot through glass windows, etc. After about 30 minutes of this i wanted to scream 'Stop tying so hard!' -- it gets distracting after a while.



Anyway, the story itself was kind of interesting... about how Jesse James' wild west robbery spree finally came to an end - but instead of being about a big shoot-em-up gun battle its more about the psychological tensions of dealing with a legendary criminal without getting shot first and then battling his legacy that lives on well after his death.



Interesting ...and with good performances (Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck), but the pacing and camera stuff kept me from really enjoying a lot (although its 2 hours and 40 minute run time did help pass most of my flight from Tokyo to HK...)

I'll give it a 7/10.