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



The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)
Beyond the myth lies America's greatest betrayal.

The last months of Jesse James's life, from meeting Robert Ford, a 19-year-old who idolizes Jesse, to the day Ford shoots him. Jesse's a wanted man, living under a pseudonym, carrying out a train robbery, disappearing to Kentucky, and reappearing to plan a bank holdup with Robert and Robert's brother as his team. The rest of the gang is dead, arrested, or gone from Missouri. Whenever Jesse's around, there's tension: he's murderous, quixotic, depressed, and cautious. Ford wants to be somebody and wants the reward. On April 3, 1882, things come to a head: Jesse is 34, Robert 20. Ford becomes famous, reenacting the shooting on stage, facing down the label "coward," shot dead in 1892.

Genre(s): Biography, Crime, Drama, History, Western
Runtime: 160 minutes
Rating: 7.7/10 (47,732 votes)
Release Date: 2 September 2007
Country: USA, Canada
Languages: English, Danish
Company: Warner Bros. Pictures
Sound: Dolby Digital, SDDS, DTS
MPAA: Rated R for some strong violence and brief sexual references.

Director(s): Andrew Dominik



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Producer(s):
Jules Daly - producer
Lisa Ellzey - executive producer
Dede Gardner - producer
Brad Grey - executive producer
Ron Hansen - associate producer
Brad Pitt - producer
Ridley Scott - producer
Tony Scott - executive producer
David Valdes - producer
Ben Waisbren - executive producer (as Benjamin Waisbren)
Tom Cox - producer: Alberta Film Entertainment (uncredited)
Murray Ord - producer: Alberta Film Entertainment (uncredited)
Jordy Randall - producer: Alberta Film Entertainment (uncredited)

Writer(s):
Andrew Dominik - (screenplay)
Ron Hansen - (novel)

Cast:
Brad Pitt - Jesse James
Mary-Louise Parker - Zee James
Brooklynn Proulx - Mary James
Dustin Bollinger - Tim James
Casey Affleck - Robert Ford
Sam Rockwell - Charley Ford
Jeremy Renner - Wood Hite
Sam Shepard - Frank James
Garret Dillahunt - Ed Miller
Paul Schneider - Dick Liddil

Music: Nick Cave, Warren Ellis


4 Responses to “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)”

  1. Igor Boiar (iboiar@hotmail.com) Says:
    July 12th, 2009

    An account of the final years of the outlaw Jesse James, how he came tobe slain by a member of his own gang, and the curious aftermath of hisdeath.

    Ravishing looking, in muted tones that recall sepia-tinted photos, thestory has a modern resonance: Casey Affleck's grinning, sycophanticRobert Ford is like a celebrity stalker-fan who goes to extremes. BradPitt's Jesse James verges on psychosis, switching from charm to coldfury in an instant. This slow moving film, all snowy vistas, fields ofwaving corn and fast-moving clouds, aims for epic grandeur. But AndrewDominik also stages a night-time train robbery thrillingly. An elegyfor the Old West, it is touched with brilliance throughout. The nervystyle of this newfangled Western, with its eerie, insinuating score byNick Cave and Warren Ellis, is so effective that long after Pitt andAffleck have left the screen, emotional disturbance lingers like gunsmoke.

  2. camerowanna69 Says:
    July 19th, 2009

    My wife and I have been reading th reviews here, while the movie playedon the TV, just to stay awake!!!!!!!!!!!! So many people have alreadysaid everything that was needed, so I'll spare you. Anyone that hasalready seen this movie, won't need a long boring review to tell youabout a long boring movie.

    Well, at least I thought I wasn't going to ramble. However, IMDb won'tpost until I have put 10 lines of text. So, to think that there was anounce of acting (good or otherwise), think again!

    It's not that I can't watch long boring movies. I could make a list ofall the movies I love that apply, and it would be about as long as thismovie. I'm really does now, I think this should be enough text.

  3. Cissy Says:
    July 22nd, 2009

    Finally, I watched one of the movies I've always wanted to see, TheAssassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. This film,directed by Andrew Dominik, is a poetic, beautifully shot masterpieceof a Western, with great psychological depth — and one of my newall-time favorites. The characters feel real, not black and white,heroes or villains, but like actual people. Brad Pitt's (at last)excellent as Jesse James, the legendary outlaw who's losing his grip,health and skill (and perhaps mind, too), and sees an opportunity foran escape and an honorary way out in his young, unbalanced admirer,Robert Ford (always wonderful Casey Affleck). Jesse manipulates himskillfully and when Bob Ford, disillusioned and abandoned, walks away,only to return later (as the movie's title suggests), are all his movesand emotions orchestrated by Jesse. This is a film with quite a fewsurprises, with spellbinding cinematography, and with a very ironictitle… as in the end, it's not Bob Ford who's the coward at all. Atthe same time, it's also a chilling tale of hero worship and itsdangers — something that Pitt himself must have had a brush with, inthe form of stalkers.

    All in all, one can't but feel pity for the young Robert Ford who longsto be with Jesse, and when that fails, hopes to be him. Just seeing thecalculating looks Jesse gives him send chills down one's spine. BobFord is, quite simply, corrupted by the older man, and along the way,he loses his innocence and his soul, while granting Jesse Jamesimmortality and the heroic death he always wanted.

  4. ma-cortes Says:
    July 27th, 2009

    This is a sprawling and glamorous Western but overlong. Packs colorfulscenarios, slow-moving pace and slick edition. Wonderful cinematographyby Roger Deakins and atmospheric musical score by Nick Cave. The motionpicture is well realized by Andrew Dominik who displays enough off-beattouches to keep things interesting.

    Adding more details over the largely described on the movie, deedshappened of the following way : Later events led disaster on 6September 1876 in which Jesse(Brad Pitt) and Frank James(Sam Shepard)with three younger Younger brothers attempted a bank robbery atNorthfield , Minnesota, only Jesse and Frank got clean away to livequietly for several years under assumed names , Jesse as J.D. Howardand Frank as B.J. Woodson. In 1879 they robbed a train and another onein 1881, in the latter crime a conductor and a passenger were killed.Governor of Missouri raised rewards of 10.000 dollars each for theJames boys, dead or alive. On 3 April 1882 Bob Ford, a new member ,treacherously shot Jessse dead in the back of the head in his home atSt Joseph, Missouri where Jesse was living along with his wife(MaryLouise Parker) and sons. Frank surrendered six months later , he stoodtrial and was acquitted. He gave up his criminal ways and lived arespectable life until he died aged seventy-two in 1915. RobertFord(1861-92) made his mark on the history as the man who killed JesseJames. It was his claim to fame. Bob(Ben Affleck) and his brotherCharlie (Sam Rockwell) were new recruits to Jesse's gang in 1881 andwhen a reward was offered for Jesse and Frank, dead or alive, thebrothers Ford made a secret agreement with Governor to assassinate theoutlaw. For the rest of his life Ford was reviled for the manner inwhich he had killed Jesse , whose gravestone bore the words: ¨Murderedby a traitor and a coward whose name is not worthy to appear here¨.Forced by public opinion to leave Missouri , Bob wandered through theold West , taunted by the words of the popular song : ¨The dirty littlecoward, who was shot Mr Howard, has laid poor Jesse in his grave¨ .

    Others films about this legendary outlaw are : The classic version(1939) titled ¨Jesse James(1939)¨ with Tyrone Power and Henry Fonda,¨The return of Frank james(1950) by Fritz Lang with Henry Fonda ; ¨Ishot Jesse James¨by Samuel Fuller with John Ireland as Bob Ford ;¨Jesse James vs the Dalton(1954)¨ by William Castle with John Ireland,¨The true story of Jesse James¨ by Nicholas Ray with Robert Wagner andJeffrey Hunter.

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