The Assassination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford.

I thought it was the best film of the decade easily, closely followed by There Will be Blood.
Then Inglorious Basterds showed me the true path.
Still a close second though.

IT's incredible. It's a true shame that it got such a poor treatment.

Definitely a great film, my favorite of the past decade. So many amazing moments and rock solid acting. And the scene with the train rolling in for the robbery is one of the best looking moments I've seen in a film in some time.

I was always curious to see the original cut (I think it was like four hours long), because it really does feel in certain parts to be missing things. Most notably with Zooey Deschanel who has maybe one line in the entire film for her part. While I love the movie that section, toward the end, definitely feels truncated.

It left me shattered for days.

(But seriously, I really loved it. Incredibly powerful film).

I still think TWBB is the better film, but this is certainly my favourite.

I haven't reacted to a film like I did to this in the cinema for... well, a long, long time. I craved it in the long wait from cinema to DVD.

I'd say I've seen it close to ten times now and I absolutely adore every second of it. Masterpiece? Sure is.

ETA: The book is also phenomenal and the section following the assassination is much longer. There's also a section dealing with the earlier robberies of the James-Younger gang, including a shootout after a robbery that is expertly recreated in Walter Hill's The Long Riders for anyone that's interested.

In five years' time this cast is going look so retroactively money. Dillahunt, Renner, Rockwell, Affleck. Such an assured work for a second film.

I've never felt so much pity for anyone as much as I have for Robert Ford, even though I know I shouldn't. That's what's so great about this movie. That last scene..truly heartbreaking.

For those curious, here's a deleted scene (well, more like a reading of one, but just imaging Casey Affleck standing at Jesse James grave and reading what's written there would've been amazing to see.)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1O_pU...eature=related

One of the most beautiful movies of recent years, and Dominik needs to work more.

A fascinating look at fame, celebrity, obsession, hero-worship and disappointment, and the clash between fact and fiction. Pitt channels parts of his public persona into a career best performance as the man who chooses death and the preservation of his legend, but yeah, the stand-out is Affleck, who does an incredibly difficult job (could you imagine anyone else in the role?) perfectly.

A wonderfully relevant and vital film, that serves as both drama and thriller. I can only think of Inglourious Basterds recently that has produced the level of tension this film does.

The thing is, the trailer itself is actually very good and does a good job of representing the film you'll get.

Warners just didn't put it out there or push the Awards attention the film got. Its this generation's Shawshank I guess - a film that was recognised critically, ignored commercially and destined to find its audience at home.

I don't think this will ever be embraced by the public anywhere near the level Shawshank is. Not to mention the fact that it's a much, much better film than Shawshank could ever hope to be.

Yeah, I doubt we're going wake up to find this movie playing in an eternal loop on TBS one day.

Yeah, fair enough, but I do think its finding its audience.

I've only seen this once, but it made quite an impression on me. The artistry on display in every aspect is remarkable. I love TWBB, but I would have to agree that this is a better film.

How could you forget Paul Schneider? Dude had a great 2007, with both this and Lars and the Real Girl.

I know the search function doesn't work for shit, but there's a lengthy thread already dedicated to it.

But yeah, fantastic movie. And maybe my favorite soundtrack, ever.

The rules about that aren't terribly concrete I don't think, so don't sweat it. Someone just bumped the post release RAMBO thread, which seems kinda ridiculous.

I don't see any reason to fragment discussion of a film any more than absolutely necessary. But more talk of Assassination is always fine in my book.

I know this film is heavily beloved around these here parts and while I'm with y'all that so many things about this movie are absolutely first class, I found where it came up short was the idea that Robert Ford is as nervy as a beat dog while Jesse James is as paranoid as an android, and yet I'm asked to believe that James would let Ford get that close to him, both literally and figuratively.

 

So even though I agree with much of the praise for Pitt's performance as the celebrity outlaw who feels targets plastered all over his back and Affleck's performance of a guy with a lethal combination of misguided hero-worship and unhinged insecurity, those traits render Ford as a character who's the very epitome of the untrustworthy interloper. He's the exact opposite of the type of guy I can believe a wickedly paranoid Jesse James would allow into his world, so the mere fact they end up in the relationship they end up in feels like a plot-driven necessity rather than a character driven idea and I found that distracting central anomaly a hurdle to enjoying this one as completely or as passionately as its legion of fans.

Jesse was weary of his legend and he wanted Bob to kill him.

What Bailey said.  I think it's open to interpretation at what point Jesse consciously decided that he wanted Ford to kill him, I'm inclined to think that at least subconsciously, it was very early on in the film.

It may be open to interpretation, and on the plus side all the love that gets heaped on the movie around here has me convinced I'll watch it again before too long, but it's only in the assassination scene itself where that attitude is apparent. All the way up until then, as he slowly allows Ford into his life, James' ever-growing paranoia seemed completely at odds with the idea he wanted to die because paranoia is born directly from survival instinct. Or to put it another way; If you want to die, you're not a paranoid mess. You also don't act like James did with his family.

 

I don't have a problem with the idea that Jesse wanted Ford to kill him per se, because that's a pretty fascinating idea to explore, and it works nicely on the page, but in the film itself the tone of the delivery of that idea didn't work for me.

I truly love this film. Saw it in the theater and I bought it as well (on HD-DVD. Shit.). For some reason I can't get any of my friends to watch it. They would love the shit out of it, but I guess they're put off by the length or something. What a shame.

You're making it too simple.  Too one way or the other.  Paranoia had been Jesse's M.O. for so long, it was second nature.  He was tired of it, but that doesn't mean he was going to let his guard down completely.  It's not one thing or the other; there's obviously conflict there.  Otherwise, why not let Ed betray him, if he was going to betray him?  Or why not just shoot himself in the head?

 

The idea here is that Jesse was no longer in charge of his own life.  That his legend had overtaken him.  When he killed Ed, he killed him because he felt he had to, not because he wanted to.  When Jesse, Charlie, and Bob carry out the execution, they take their marks as if actors on a stage. They're resigned to their places in history.

And there's also this idea that Bob, his ultimate "fan", had to be the one to do it.  That Jesse was testing Bob by giving him the instrument of his own destruction.  Maybe Bob would pass the test.  Maybe Jesse had some fool's hope that Bob's love and admiration was stronger than his jealousy and resentment.

Except I'm not making it too one way or the other, I'm just seeing it played too one way by Pitt. The idea of what you're saying is fine, and I've seen Pitt be great in a role or two that demanded subtlety before, but for me that level of subtlety is not there in this performance. At least not enough to sell these ideas we're talking about.

I'm sorry, but you were.  You said "if you want to die, you're not a paranoid mess."  That's not true at all.

 

The fact that he let Ford into his life begs the question though, of why.  Ford was a total creep, Jesse is totally paranoid, why let this creepy dude in his life if there wasn't something beneath the surface driving his motivations?

 

That tension is also why I wonder whether or not it was initially an unconscious decision on Jesse's part that only became conscious 2/3 through the film.

I think the important point being missed here is that it's more likely that I'm right about this and you guys, Russ Fisher and 300 other Chewers are wrong, than vice versa.

Hey this is what discussion is all about.  You definitely made me think more about that seeming contradiction, even if I disagree that it was unintended (or inadequately expressed, or whatever).

 

And you made me have to watch the movie again, even if it's at the expense of my plans to rewatch Color Of Night (1994).

I watched this movie over the past 2 nights, and then finally watched the mini-documentary on the Blu-Ray. I'm from Missouri, just outside of St. Joseph (my father's entire family is from there)......and I have to say that I do find it odd (and kind of disturbing) that Jesse James is held in such high regard. At least in St. Joe he's held in almost the same regard and wonder as the Pony Express, for whatever reason. I mean, there are small town museums, tours, gift shops......Jesse James and the Pony Express are brand names in that town. He's just kind of spoken as a lovable rogue or rascal there, and seem to have this image of him as an Errol Flynn as Robin Hood type.....I just don't get it? I've only been to Chicago once, many many years ago with family.......and I know Chicago doesn't shy away from their gangster roots (and is not afraid to capitalize on it).....but I don't remember them seemingly hoisting Al Capone up on their shoulders and saying "Look at this hometown boy! He's one of US!"....

I remember being a kid and thinking Jesse James was a hero-type. As stupid as this sounds, I remember watching a re-run episode of the Brady Bunch. One of the boy Bradys was obssessed with Jesse James, and at the end of the episode (if I recall correctly) a descendant of someone Jesse murdered sets the brady boy straight. At that time, I remember being shocked by it, as that was not how Jesse james was described to me. I remember telling my dad about it, and him telling me that "No, Jesse James was not a nice man. he was a bank robber and murderer. He didn't rob from the rich and give to the poor." Even the first time I saw this movie, even after knowing about the "real" Jesse James.....watching this movie and seeing him portrayed as a cold, mean, MEAN bastard.....it still comes off as shocking to me. Maybe part of it comes from Brad Pitt always seeming to be a charming, goofy type guy/actor/character......and seeing him in this.....the dude works. There is always this menace or dark cloud in any scene he is present. I always feel on edge, as your never sure what he'll do (the only recent characters who gave me this same feeling in recent movies have been Anton Chigurh in 'No Country for Old Men', and the Joker in 'The Dark Knight'). I wish Pitt would ave gotten more recognition for this movie, as much as Affleck did. Everything that was wrong about Pitt as Achilles in 'Troy'.....is right in this movie.

I also feel bad for Bob Ford. Affleck is amazing. Throughout the whole movie he gives off that creepy serial - killer vibe. And in the last 15 minutes? It's all flipped, and you feel sympathy for him. I always knew Bob Ford as the "coward" who "betrayed" Jesse James and shot him in the back. All the people Jesse James killed, and he's martyred for being shot in the back.....amazing.

Anyways, I just wanted the throw my 2 cents in about this flick, from a Missourian point of view. Now that I'm older, I'll never understand the Hero-izing of James in Missouri. Like the guy in the docu on the blu-ray said...."Jesse James was a psychopath."

And I have one question for any who might know....was that Nick Cave singing the "dirty little coward" song in the bar at the end? 

That's Cave.  He did the entire (incredible) soundtrack for the movie.

I'm cross posting this from another thread.

 

I think what I appreciate the most about Jesse James is that it doesn't even really have a pedigree. With There Will Be Blood and No Country you were kind of expecting greatness due to the respective careers of Anderson and the Coens. Whilst I like Chopper I would never have imagined Andrew Dominik making what feels like a masterwork with his second film. It's just unsettlingly brilliant and populated with talented actors bringing their A game, but even then none of the actors (aside from Pitt) were standard 'name' actors. It's largely full of young, great, actors getting a chance to really prove themselves. It essentially represents the future of actors to me, in the way that the cast of Inception probably represents what new Hollywood will look like in a few years. It's the best film I saw in the 00s and it's neck and neck with the Royal Tenenbaums and Oldboy as my favourite film of the 00s.