Mike Lengel Robert Ford flutters passionately and covetously around late 19th century outlaw and reserved hero of the Southern cause, Jesse James, in this visually breathtaking and emotionally unnerving film. Youngest of his brothers and leaden with insecurity, Bob fancies himself unwavering protege of a man whose chivalrous and mysterious reputation masks a deeper unease with humanity. The two weave in and out of contact over robbery and family feud, illuminating Bob's lust and Jesse's growing anxiety through gang rumor and increasingly awkward conversation, funneling into melancholy self-destruction. Bob's child-like infatuation for Jesse is teased and threatened by kin and gang member as the posse gallop back and forth across the snow-drifted Midwest, raiding to reestablish lost pride. His eyes grow shrill and frosty as a tattered self-esteem is nudged to the surface, raising the hair and corroding the nerves of his hero, who starts to retreat into a shell of paranoia. Bob and Jesse's emotional spiral is foreshadowed in cigar-lit, rocking-chair conversation and family get togethers with tense and glaring body language. Words exchanged dance around the clashing self-images of both men, growing a guardedness that ironically binds Bob tighter to Jesse's boot and shackles Jesse from shedding his stalker. As Bob's declining self-esteem unveils murderous intentions, Jesse confesses his reactive wretch and desperation in one of the films most gorgeous scenes, kneeling on a frozen lake and muttering under frosty breath (more to himself than Charley Ford) with pines and snow-capped mountains towering behind. Other characters fade from the drama, leaving Bob and his older brother Charley increasingly alone with Jesse, who begins to accept death, resisting perhaps only to bait the Fords to extinguish his inescapable pain. The three meet catharsis, accompanied by a beautifully depressing ballad, in a claustrophobic room where one last chance for transparency is forsaken as Jesse surrenders his life in solemn confidence and Bob coldly draws his gun, sure of reviving his self-esteem. The film progresses to reveal a truth, seeping from Jesse's formerly shy admirers, of equal sadness for his death and anger for his killer. To his contempt, Bob absorbs the cowardly self-image that Jesse kept so well hidden until death, along with the burden of barroom stares and stifling back luck, when his own killer raises a shotgun barrel. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is a delicately woven fabric of superb acting, stunning cinematography, and sweet melancholic music. The film glitters with timeless emotion and humanity to entertain as well as give us a finer look into ourselves.

arfdawg-1 The Plot. 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. This pretentious title will tell you what you are in for. It's a nearly three hour slow moving borefest that takes forever to go anywhere.Could have been a truly great western but instead it plods along and puts you to sleep at frame one.

rajamadupu The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is a very excellent movie to some people, while to others it is viewed as boring and monotonous. The way you see this film is completely dependent on how you view film. Whether you view film as an art form that needs to be examined and analyzed, or you view film as a simple way to have fun.If you enjoy film as an art form, then you will most probably like this movie. The movie goes over topics like what is good and what is bad, what is accepted in society and what is not, how does fame affect our viewpoint on people, and etc. It's cinematography is beautiful, the acting is superb, and the script is well done. The score in this film is enough to give this film a six, at least in my opinion. The score is so enchanting and prolific to the figures represented in this film. Overall, if you enjoy dissecting and analyzing a meaningful art film, I would recommend this film to you.However, as excellent as the movie is, it still has it's drawbacks. For one, if you like films for the action, I wouldn't recommend this to you. The pacing is extremely slow, to the point where some parts can be incredibly boring. And I know there are people who expect this film to be exciting, considering it is a western, but the movie does not focus on the action. The movie focuses on understanding the minds of the characters in the story. So if you are interesting in seeing this movie, don't expect a traditional western. I want all of you to understand that this movie is not all about Jesse James. This movie is somewhat like a satire, a film that idolizes Jesse James to make you realize how much he really was idolized. It goes behind the mind of Robert Ford and some of the people closest to Jesse. The film doesn't want you to grow feelings of disgust towards Jesse James, but rather a feeling of understanding. In conclusion, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is a spectacle, but only to the right people.

lookformed Brad Pitt shows off his acting talent by displaying Jesse James in another light. We often think of the old west quaintly, however, this brings the viewer back into the reality that gangs were part of it. Jesse James is portrayed as a psychopath, and Robert Ford as a stop-and-go kind of character. Meaning, at times he dares to say what others will not; conversely, he will also shut down into a series of lies, of refusal to embrace the side of him that remains a child (which would make him much more widely accepted by other characters), and shut down into himself. In a bizarre depiction of humans being human, we learn that Jesse James (a violent thief and murderer) is celebrated after his death, while Robert Ford is first idealized and then devalued by society- observing that some part of us always celebrates those who dare to flout "the man."