The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford DVD Review

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is the sprawling, poetic saga film based on the book of the same name by Ron Hansen.

The film follows America’s most famous outlaw, Jesse James (Brad Pitt), toward what would be the end of his life. The film finds Jesse living in St. Joseph, Missouri, with his wife, Zerelda “Zee,” and their two children. The Jesse James gang had been dwindled down to nothing as a result of imprisonment and death. This left Jesse with only a pair of brothers, Charles (Sam Rockwell) and Robert (Casey Affleck), in his employ.

Charles had ridden with Jesse as a member of his gang for a number of raids. Robert “Bob” Ford was an eager new recruit with stars in his eyes as he entered into Jesse’s inner circle. Robert grew up on serial novels that detailed the exploits of Jesse James, a war hero, modern day Robin Hood, and world-class outlaw.

Robert joins Jesse and his gang and partakes in a train robbery. Robert slowly gets to know the emotionally reclusive man and develops a love/hate feeling toward Jesse. Robert remains obsessed with Jesse, trying as hard as he can to simply be near the man. Robert also feels anger toward Jesse as a result of Jesse’s bullying nature. Meanwhile, Jesse is busy dealing with his own demons, as the world seems to be closing in around him, and does not pick up on Robert’s behavior.

Eventually, Robert and Charlie betray Jesse when they decide that rather than engage in another robbery, they would like to collect the ten thousand dollar bounty on Jesse’s head. Robert is arrested for the murder of fellow gang member Wood Hite. Robert accepts a deal given to him by Governor Crittenden who will pardon Ford if he would also kill Jesse James.

On April 3, 1882, Robert Ford shot an unarmed Jesse James in the back while he dusted a picture frame. Robert Ford was given his pardon and began to earn a living by posing for photographs as “The Man who Shot Jesse James,” and by performing in re-enactments of that day’s events. Robert eventually moved to Colorado where he opened a saloon. On June 8, 1892, Ed O’Kelley shot Robert Ford in the back with a sawed off shotgun.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is a moving and engaging piece of cinematic perfection. It is hard to believe that it is only the sophomore effort from director Andrew Dominik.

The film’s pacing, while heavily criticized by some, is reminiscent of classic saga westerns. The film score and cinematography are simple and beautiful at the same time. Brad Pitt is eerie as the conflicted somewhat bi-polar outlaw who could be friendly and optimistic one moment and frighteningly dark the next. Perhaps most impressive is Casey Affleck. He is spellbinding as the tormented Robert Ford, a boyish man who seems betrayed upon meeting the celebrity he had idolized for so long. Affleck proves once and for all that he is no longer just a supporting character and that he is no longer trapped in the shadow of big brother Ben Affleck.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford has a one hundred and sixty minute run time. As a result of its near three-hour runtime, the DVD release is rather bare bones with no special features to speak of. The film is presented in Widescreen with a 5.1 Dolby surround track and 5.1 tracks for both French and Spanish. The film is also available on Blu-Ray and HD DVD.