What Makes "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" Great.

One of the best and most underrated films in the past 20 years, "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" is one of the most unique westerns you will ever find. It takes a surprisingly accurate and realistic legend of Jesse James and his downfall and fills it with a tale of myth vs reality and legacies in Andrew Dominick's deconstruction of the western genre.

The film follows the last few months of Jesse James (Brad Pitt) and the infamous James gang, with a young idealistic Robert Ford (Casey Affleck) among the new recruits. Robert Ford idealizes Jesse James and the ideas that he represents and hopes that his involvement in the opening train robbery will be the first of many adventures with Jesse. But as time goes on and Robert begins to separate the myth of Jesse from the reality, jealousy, resentment, and Ford's own desire for fame begin to build inside him, to the point where he decides he will be the one to kill Jesse James.

One of the first things that people praise this film for is the cinematography, and it is indeed well deserved, it's one of the most beautiful films I have ever seen. Cienamatagrpher Roger Deakins used various lense tricks and different uses of palates to create the film's unique look. Many of the film's shots look like a painting, a memory of an era long passed. Some have criticized the film for being too slow and not having enough action, and that 2 hours and 39-minute runtime also didn't help in that regard. However, this was the intent of Dominick's version, the film works effectively as a slow build to the inevitable. The film also takes several detours to various characters and events that at first seem to serve no purpose, but they all work in some way into the bigger picture of the story at some point. Even the actual assassination when we finally get to it is a slow, intense build to the eventual gunshot that kills Jesse, making the climactic scene all the more effective, it's not glorified in any way, it's simply a man killing another man, nothing glorifying here. The music by Nick Cave and Warren Elis is also a standout, it's not a grand epic score like so many classic westerns have, instead it's a melancholic and somber soundtrack that goes perfectly with the film's vision and themes.

Brad Pitt is often dismissed as just another pretty face in Hollywood, but if you look at his filmography the dude can act, and his talents are full display as Jesse James, it's some of his best work. He plays Jesse as a said and tormented soul who knows deep down he's time is coming. This is not the young Jesse who made is name during the few years following the civil war in the 1870s, this is a 34-year-old reaching middle age and everything he has known and had in life are going away. Most of the original James gang are either died or in prison, and his older brother Frank James (Sam Shepard) shortly leaves the gang and retires after the opening train robbery. This all has caused him to become a depressed, paranoid individual who is unable to accept the changes going on around him, leading to his paranoia and distrust of others. Whenever Jesse is on screen the whole vibe of the film changes and everyone just gets scared. As the opening narration states, Jesse James's mere presence seemed to cause unnatural changes in the rooms he was in, and the film really nails that idea. The true star of the film, however, is Casey Affleck and Robert Ford. Ford takes the role of the main protagonist and primary showcase of the themes of the film. In the beginning, Robert Ford starts out as a wannabe gunslinger who seeks the admiration of others, especially his idol Jesse James. He sees Jesse through the myth that America has built around him which Jesse bluntly tells the young man are all lies. Robert Ford is also a tormented figure who is often pushed around by fellow gang members and eventually Jesse himself. No matter how many times he tries to act like Jesse, people still treat him the same. This leads to the jealously and resentment that builds in Robert. As he says to the Sherrif, "I've been a nobody all my life, and ever since I can remember, Jesse James as been as big as a tree". This leads him to make a deal with the law to kill Jesse in exchange for immunity, and fame for killing Jesse James. to quote Breaking Bad, however, "Killing Jesse James don't make you Jesse James", and ford finds that out the hard way. Society rejects ford for killing an American legend. They grieve not the man, but the idea that man symbolized. Jesse to the public was a symbol of freedom from an oppressive government, who lived his life doing what he wanted with no regret. So the fact that some nobody ended this man's life the way he did, it was like a slap in the face to the American people. The ironic thing is, Robert Ford, held these same ideas of Jesse James, the difference is that Ford saw Jesse as the simple man he really was, while the rest of America still saw Jesse as Jesse. It's a classic case of celebrity worship and seeing only seeing what you want to see instead of what is really there. This leads to the powerful epilogue that shows Robert Ford's said existence and the ridicule he was forced to endure, which eventually lead to his own death. Robert Ford's story is truly a tragic tale of misunderstanding and how the public can affect and change our legacy, no matter how unjustly it is.

A true gem of cinema that has slowly been gaining the respect it deserves, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is a haunting marvel that will stick with you long after the credits roll.