THE LONG AND THE SHORT AND THE TALL : ‘The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford’

Published on: November 26th, 2007

FOR many older cinemagoers The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford will seem rather a manageable kind of movie-title mouthful alongside The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade (1967): Peter Brook's film, based on Peter Weiss's play, both of them near-universally referred to as Marat/Sade for the sake of convenience (it's even more daunting in Weiss's original German).

And can it be mere coincidence that 'assassination' should appear in both titles? Probably not – there's very little that's in any way accidental, especially in regard to previous artistic antecedents, about what we should perhaps call  'James/Ford': a brooding, sprawling, quasi-Western, adapted from Ron Hansen's well-regarded 1983 novel of the same name (it was reportedly part of star Brad Pitt's contract that the studio couldn't shorten the title to a more conventional length.)

Writer-director Dominik minutely examines the troubled relationship between James (Pitt), notorious train-robber/bandit in 1870s Missouri, and Ford (Casey Affleck). The latter is a sallow-faced, sickly-smiling small-timer who idolises James and insinuates his way into his gang only to end up, as the title somewhat 'spoilerishly' reveals, taking his hero's life after witnessing James's flaws and limitations. The film shows the how, asks the why, and details the bizarre aftermath – the period when Ford tried to exploited his unlikely celebrity/notoriety, only to ultimately become reviled as a kind of modern-day Herostratus.

Though we're dealing with prominent historical figures in grand landscape settings, this isn't a particularly complicated or epic story – which may cause some to wonder why James/Ford should clock in at over 159 minutes* (exactly twice as long as Sam Fuller's feature-debut from 1949, I Shot Jesse James. According to Fuller, Ford "did something that should have been done quite a bit earlier in the life of Jesse Woodson James.") Writer-director Dominik risks charges of portentousness and bombast, asks the audience to stick with his story through numerous diversions and divagations. This allows plenty of time for supporting actors to explore their roles: Sam Shepard, Sam Rockwell and, best value of all, Paul Schneider as the priapic, verbose Dick Liddil. He's careful, however, to ensure we're never too long away from either (or, more usually, both) of the eponymous duo.

And while James's Pitt is a mercurial/charismatic, audaciously unsympathetic characterisation – at times this loutish, monosyllabic crook seems as much a coward as Ford, if not more so – the fact that he was named Best Actor at the Venice Film Festival seems rather odd. Because this is very much Affleck's film, and he's at the very least "co-lead" with the rather better-known Pitt. As the runtish, "silly little bastard" Ford, he's the tormented, conflicted focus of the movie: "I been a nobody all my life," he whines (in a trembly-scratchy voice naggingly reminiscent of Adam Sandler's Barry Egan from Paul Thomas Anderson's Punch-Drunk Love) "and ever since I can remember it Jesse James has been as big as a tree."

Appropriately enough for a film about adulation and imitation, Dominik (whose sole previous feature Chopper likewise examined issues of masculinity, insecurity and fame) doesn't hide his debt to other film-makers: Robert Altman's wintry anti-western McCabe and Mrs Miller is an obvious touchstone, while Paul Thomas Anderson devotees will note that, in addition to Affleck's 'Eganistic' vocal stylings, Dominik employs PTA's editor-of-choice Dylan Tichenor*. The mood of the whole narration-heavy picture owes considerable debt to the prologue to Magnolia (which, like James/Ford, features actor Pat Healy in a small but pivotal role): the poetically-precise voiceover, by Hugh Ross, sounds much like a cross between Ricky Jay's work on Magnolia and Little Children's Will Lyman. And it's cinema's most famously narration-fond auteur, Terrence Malick, to whom Dominik pays the most overt and sustained hommage: many shots eerily resemble out-takes from Malick's 1978 Days of Heaven - and that's no small achievement given the fact that Nestor Almendros's Oscar-winning work on the latter is rated one of the great examples of modern cinematography.

Five times Academy-nominated but so far winless, British veteran Roger Deakins (also responsible for two upcoming pictures: the Coen brothers' No Country For Old Men and Paul Haggis's In the Valley of Elah) deserves similar honours for his efforts here. His chiaroscuro images – many of them heavily reliant on candlelight – shimmer with limpid intensity, the crystal-clarity of period-perfect versimilitude blurring around the margins as reality refracts into myth. It's easily one of the most beautiful films of the year – and one of the bravest, and, in brief, one of the best.

Neil Young
26th November, 2007

* The editing of the film was apparently a complex, protracted and thorny process, with – according to some sources – Dominik and then Pitt getting seriously involved at various stages. One of the two credited editors is Tichenor, whose "strike rate" must be among the most impressive of any individual working in any field in current cinema. This is his full feature-film filmography:

1997 Boogie Nights [9/10]
1998 Hurlyburly
1999 Magnolia [9/10]
2000 Unbreakable [8/10]
2001 The Royal Tenenbaums [8/10]
2003 Cold Creek Manor [3/10] – oops!
2005 Brokeback Mountain [7/10]
2007 The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford [8/10]
2007 There Will Be Blood

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the review above is an expansion of the review below, which was written for the next issue of Tribune magazine

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
USA 2007
Starring : Casey Affleck, Brad Pitt
Director : Andrew Dominik

FOR many older cinemagoers The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford will seem rather a manageable mouthful alongside The Persecution and Assassination of Jean-Paul Marat as Performed by the Inmates of the Asylum of Charenton Under the Direction of the Marquis de Sade (1967), a.k.a. Marat/Sade. Is it coincidence that 'assassination' should appear in both titles? Probably not – there's little that's accidental about what 'James/Ford': a brooding, sprawling quasi-Western, adapted from Ron Hansen's 1983 novel. Writer-director Dominik examines the relationship between James (Pitt), notorious 1870s-Missouri train-robber, and Ford (Affleck) – a small-timer who idolises James and (as the title somewhat 'spoilerishly' reveals) ends up taking his life. The film shows the how, asks the why, and reveals the aftermath – when Ford exploited his unlikely celebrity and became reviled as a modern-day Herostratus.

It isn't a complicated or epic story, and this may cause some to wonder why James/Ford should clock in at 160 minutes. Dominik asks the audience to stick with the story through numerous divagations, careful to ensure we're never too long away from either of the eponymous duo. And while James's Pitt is a charismatic, audaciously-unsympathetic characterisation, this is very much Affleck's film. As "silly little bastard" Ford, he's the tormented, conflicted focus of the movie – "I been a nobody all my life," he whines, "and ever since I can remember it Jesse James has been as big as a tree."

Appropriately enough for a film about adulation and imitation, Dominik (whose Chopper [2000] likewise examined masculinity, insecurity and fame) pays overt, sustained hommage to Terrence Malick. Many shots resemble out-takes from Malick's 1978 Days of Heaven - no small achievement as Nestor Almendros's Oscar-winning work on the latter is rated one of the great examples of modern cinematography. British veteran Roger Deakins deserves similar honours for his efforts here – his images shimmer with limpid intensity, the crystal-clarity of period-perfect versimilitude blurring as reality refracts into myth. It's easily one of the most beautiful films of the year – and one of the bravest, and, in brief, one of the best.

Neil Young

THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD : [8/10] : USA 07 : Andrew DOMINIK : 160 mins (BBFC)
seen at Vue cinema, Leicester : 5th Oct : press show (Cinemadays event)