Caffeinated Clint
Robert Ford may have killed Jesse James in the history books, but the indulgent editing will be his real killer at the box office. Even the title needs a good edit.
Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck, Mary-Louise Parker, Sam Rockwell, Sam Shepard
Robert Ford may have killed Jesse James in the history books, but the indulgent editing will be his real killer at the box office. Even the title needs a good edit.
This is what happens when a director falls in love with his close-ups and panders to the approval of the academy instead of the audience. Let this be a lesson to all you directors out there, please don’t mistake slow for significant. It is the same malady that plagued pretty-boy Pitt in ‘’Meet Joe Black’’ – apparently his directors fall in love with him in the editing room and end up adding an extra hour to the movie in deadly slow extended beauty shots that don’t move the story forward.
Murderous editing aside, it is a fantastic movie in almost every other way. Dominik (“Chopper”) has written a wonderfully entertaining script that sticks true to the available knowledge about Jesse James and Robert Ford. You can visit the Jesse James house in St. Joseph, Missouri and you will find that, other than the tiny dimensions of the actual house, the retelling of the moments of Mr. James’s final moments corroborate those at the museum.
Roger Deakin’s cinematography captures at once the vast beauty and harshness of the period with a texture that embodies the story’s nostalgia. The heat and cold are related exquisitely through the color palate and exposure. Combined with Warren Ellis and Nick Cave’s score, the underlying effect is quite powerful and moving.
The performances are solid all around with particular kudos to Casey Affleck (“Ocean’s Eleven”, “Good Will Hunting”), who manages a complex blend of hero worship, resentment, insecurity, need for approval, and remorse. His stark honesty and vulnerability make the coward Robert Ford the most interesting and sympathetic, if not the real hero of this movie.
If you are a fan of historical dramas, I highly recommend TAOJJBTCRF (sheesh! Even the acronym is too long!) but if you’re looking for a more traditional western, go see ‘’3:10 to Yuma’’ again. And if you’re expecting something of a ‘Shoot ‘Em Up movie, well, er, go see ‘’Shoot ‘Em Up’’ then.
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Reviewer : Clare Bath
