I had mixed feelings about The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. However, after further thought, I realized how much I actually liked the film. It's flaws are blatantly obvious...but the visuals are amazing, each member of the cast give terrific performances, and the tragedy of the story is demonstrated almost perfectly. Andrew Dominik directs with the artful ease of any other Australian director, bringing to mind my other favorite Aussie western, The Proposition. Both films have an extremely arthouse feel to them, but also a brutal emotional impact that few films can match.
The opening robbery of TAOJJBCRF (I really can't keep writing the title out) is by far the strongest scene of the entire film, and maybe one of the best scenes in a movie this year. It is a long, drawn out affair, but done with such style that it only increases the tension and impact of the scene. However, several other scenes attempt to match the magnitude of the opening scene and fail miserably, mostly because they just become boring and tedious. The saving grace of every such scene is Andrew Dominik's mastery at the helm, and the actors' superb performances.
Brad Pitt is extremely solid as Jesse James, the first title character. I think that it's one of his best performances to date, though a few of my friends think otherwise. The sadness seen in his eyes every time he looks at Robert Ford made the performance so plausible for me, and the scenes where he is obviously shown going insane are also very good. Sam Rockwell gives a great turn as Robert Ford's brother Charlie, furthering his status as one of the most grossly underrated actors in Hollywood.
But all the performances are by far overshadowed by Casey Affleck's shattering role as Robert Ford. I never thought I would see the day when I would be praising someone with the last name Affleck, but there is no denying that Ben's brother is an amazing actor. His soft-spoken, raspy voice is perfect to portray a man torn apart by obsession and jealousy. He delves deep into Robert Ford's child-like fixation on the James brothers, and into his unstable and often psychotic subtleties. Robert Ford goes from loving the train robber to envying him, and everything in between, which in some ways is good and some ways very bad. There seems to be so many motives for Ford to kill Jesse James, but in the end it is merely necessity brought on by Ford's quest for glory.
Nick Cave and Warren Ellis crafted an amazing score for the movie, matching and almost surpassing their efforts in The Proposition. It is perfect for the film, and I really think it's a crime that 3:10 to Yuma's conventional western score got an Oscar nom. over this beautiful and unique compositions.
The narration of the film can be very frustrating, as it sometimes hinders the already flawed pacing. I understand the stylistic effect of the film's pace, but sometimes way too little happens in way too long of a period, and the film feels more like an art exibition than an actual narrative; which works, in a way, but not in the way that it should. And the narration is also a very good idea that works sometimes, but the obvious fix to the times that it doesn't work is just better writing.
All in all, it's a very good film, but it's obvious faults keep it from being an astonishing film. I'm really looking forward to seeing more of Andrew Dominik in the near future, because I think that if he channels his artistic abilities right, he will make some great works. TAOJJBTCRF is a very respectable entry into the list of the many great films of 2007. And plus, Brad Pitt is the fricken man.