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

89 out of 99 people found the following review helpful:

Waste of time

A Customer from St. Albans, 9th December, 2007

There is a good story hidden somewhere in this film, but please don't waste almost 3 hours of your life trying to find it. Brad Pitt is rubbish, and so are most of the other actors, easily the worst film I have seen this year.

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63 out of 64 people found the following review helpful:

the assassination of Jesse james by the coward robert ford

A Customer from builth, 11th January, 2008

I have to say i was astonishingly dissappointed with this film. After waiting nearly two years for its release (the orginal shoot had finished my bid 05), I was desperate to see it because Dominick's previous debut film 'Chopper' in my eyes is a master piece. This film was way off the mark, i love slow paced films, Malick is one of my favourite directors and 'The new world' is one of my most recent favourtie films, but in this case the pace was a mess, the narrative was a mess and ended up relying on voiceover to tell key parts of story which the visuals had failed to convey. The most significant parts of the plot were summed up in the last 25 mins of the film, simmillarly frustrating as the last 20mins of 'Return of the king', LOTR). It is not surprising the edit is a mess, as the original cut, dominic's version, was 4.5 hours long. It is always a sign if a film takes two years to be released that it has massive issues! Yes Deakens cinemetography as ever is outstanding, and the film contains a coulpe scenes which are some of the best in cinema, a fantastic atmospheric train robbery almost makes the film worth a watch. But lets face it cinematography and performances are essential to a great film but rarely make a good film alone. This film certainly wont be up for best picture (oscar), when has a film thats only made $4.000.000 in the world wide box office ever Won? I never would usually judge a film by what it has made, but when it stars one of the worlds most bankable actors, something is not right. This film appears to have tried to combine 'the new world' with 'unforgiven', this cocktail of a movie, tragically does not work.

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50 out of 52 people found the following review helpful:

Stunning and the 3 hours are justified.

A Customer from Bristol, 5th January, 2008

I have to say, I completely disagree with the above review, because The Assassination of Jesse James was easily, in my opinion one of the most outstanding films of the year, and I wouldn't be at all surprised if it was one of the big contenders of this years OSCARs. Casey Affleck is fantastic, and his naive and creepy portrayal of Robert Ford is mesmerising. Brad Pitt, many reviews have said is at his best, though having only seen him in a couple of films, I couldn't comment, though I would agree that he is very impressive. The stunning cinematography and Nick Cave soundtrack doesn't hurt. Oh god, I went and hyped it up, sorry, but it needs to be said!

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37 out of 39 people found the following review helpful:

Great film, but be warned it's slow

McClennan from , 29th January, 2008

A strong contender for my film of the year. A western with little in the way of action and a running time almost as long as its title, this is not for everybody. As a fan of both McCabe And Mrs Miller and Days Of Heaven this was an easy watch for me. Roger Deakins' (cinematographer for the Coen brothers) photography brings a faded but not historical hue, applying effects that give it both a period look and a feeling of reaching back into the memory and in conjunction with Dominik's direction, we get a film that sits alongside the Altman and Malick classics. The cinematography doesn't touch the same sort of quality that Days Of Heaven does yet it's still the lyrical and elegaic film that reviewers have been at pains to not-be-too-obvious about highlighting with some substance as well. There isn't much of a plot, it's more an exploration of myth, facts, fame, fortune and celebrity with Dominik's bringing tension and meaning to the characters faces. Excellent and a film that I could go and watch again already

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*** May contain spoilers ***

Terrible

TheThornyIssue from from Liverpool, 7th August, 2008

A real bore of a film which is very short on story and any character empathy, to the point where you won't care who dies as long as it ends quickly. A film with such a bold title is expected to deliver that little bit more but all you get is Brad living out his boyhood fantasies playing a complex but hardly engaging baddiie and a director, clearly in love with Casey Affleck, stretching the film an hour past the bearability point. You won't get 2 hours and 30 minutes back in your life so take my advice and don't waste them on this pretentious tripe in the first place! If you want to watch a decent recently-produced western watch The 3:10 to Yuma as this one is dire, both as a basic story and as a character study.

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Superb slow burner

Droneworks from from Radstock, 7th August, 2008

Firstly, don't be put off by the mention in other reviews that this film is 3 hours long - it isn't - it lasts 2 1/2 hours - perfectly acceptable in my opinion. Mind you, even if it was 3 hours long I wouldn't mind. The acting is superb throughout, with the charcters managing to build real tension, which coupled with the slow pace of the film left me feeling engrossed and anxious about where the plot would head next (despite the fact that the title of the film limits certain possible events). Affleck's Robert Ford is creepy and desperate, and you tend to feel a certain amount of pity for him, even though this is hardly deserved. Brad Pitt successfully manages also to swing from calm to crazed in the blink of an eye - essential when portraying such a character as his (it reminded me of Daniel Day Lewis at his best), and despite Jesse James' criminal charcater, there is a certain amount of empathy felt with his plight as an outlaw, although not too much. The narration has annoyed other reviewers, but I feel it adds clarity where necessary, and doesn't overstep the mark. The film is also beautifully shot, and the landscapes, along with the Nick Cave/Warren Ellis soundtrack create the perfect setting for such a storyline. It does require some patience (which people seem to lack in this world where we seem to demand everything NOW), and if you want short sharp entertainment then look elsewhere. That patience is rewarded though, with the realisation that sometimes plenty of time and the correct pace is necessary to tell a story well. And this is one superb story, told incredibly well by all. Awesome - one of the best films I have seen in a long time.

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You can't go wrong

kimnchris from from Gloucester, 7th August, 2008

We are both professional artists and this was like watching a series of beautiful paintings. The actors were all superb and the story was well told and kept us glued to the screen from beginning to end.

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A story truly told through images

tunnelweb from from Hamilton, 7th August, 2008

Every shot in this film is perfect. Characterisation is superb, and what is not said in words is more than made up for with the wealth of the imagery.

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