The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is one of the best biopic I have ever seen. Period. It's a 152 minute epic that seems to go by in the blink of an eye, and it bothers to be more thoughtful then confusing in those minutes. What I mean by that is most films of a length like that; especially biopics; find themselves being confusing and scattershot. The Assassination of Jesse James is not. On the surface it's scenes are simply put together action, and conversation scenes that all come together to tell a story. However there's also a narrator that narrates some other details into the story. These added points allow the audience to feel a rich history behind these characters and enjoy the story even more. I hesitate now thinking on whether I should call this film a drama because in all honesty it has more in common with a really well acted, and crafted documentary. The actors are there to guide us through a dramatization of the story as the narrator keeps it on track. The reason why I find this film to be so good is because they both mesh perfectly leading to the entire production being interesting. As far as the actual movie parts of the movie go I found them really incredible. If you took the narrator out, you would not have as interesting or as thoughtful as a movie, but you'd still have a nicely shot and impressive piece of work. The reason for this comes mainly in the acting and the writing. Brad Pitt puts on what may be his best performance as Jesse James; a man conflicted with the deeds of the past and how they come back for him. Pitt has always been good in roles that required silence and emotion to be projected leading him into full form here. In the quieter talking scenes there's a menace to him as well that is perfectly captured infusing tension into every single one of them. The other cast includes greats such as Sam Rockwell, Casey Affleck, and Jeremy Renner. They are all at top form especially Affleck as Robert Ford who goes slowly from playful to grim and tortured. It's a tour de force. The western setting is also realized beautifully with the period design and cinematography mimicking the look of an old photo. This infuses the film with a sense of longing for times past that ups it's effectiveness in the long run even if after a while the uniqueness wares off. The Assassination of Jesse James is a great historical film. It's narration combined with it's more cinematic moments make it thoughtful, and easy to follow; while the cinematography and the actors to the rest. The Assassination of Jesse James gets a 9.5 out of 10.
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AuthorI am a 17 year old film enthusiast that is happy to be sharing my opinions on this site. Archives
March 2016
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