Thursday, May 1, 2014

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


IMDb plot summary: Robert Ford, who's idolized Jesse James since childhood, tries hard to join the reforming gang of the Missouri outlaw, but gradually becomes resentful of the bandit leader.
Directed by Andrew Dominik. Starring Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck, Sam Rockwell, and Jeremy Renner.

In a movie with a 2 1/2 hour runtime, you'd think there'd be a little bit more depth of character going on, but this movie is oddly dry and distant until the last 30 minutes. Those last 30 minutes, starting with the assassination itself, are interesting, as it shows us the psychological effects of all the events we've seen. I also particularly enjoyed the movie's score.

Overall, however, it goes on much too long, meanders all over the place, and doesn't really do anything with its characterization. Too bad, because we've got some interesting actors here (Sam Rockwell in particular is one of my favorites) and I wish I could have cared about any of their characters.

1.5 stars.

Flickchart: #1563 out of 2122, below Pride and Prejudice (1940) and above The First Wives Club.

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