Pitt a good fit as 'Jesse James'

By Steve Persall, Times film critic
Published October 18, 2007

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Grade: A-

Director: Andrew Dominik

Cast: Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck, Sam Rockwell, Mary-Louise Parker, Jeremy Renner, Sam Shepard, Garret Dillahunt, Paul Schneider

Screenplay: Andrew Dominik, based on the novel by Ron Hansen

Rating: R; strong violence, sexual references

Running time: 160 min.

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The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is a stout title for a movie to carry. Break it down, and it effectively describes the tack of Ron Hansen's novel, and now Andrew Dominik's film.

The Jesse James part needs no explanation. He's the most celebrated of all Wild West outlaws except perhaps Billy the Kid. His exploits filled dime store books in his era and dozens of films and TV shows long after. Casting Brad Pitt in the role is appropriate - one charismatic Missouri icon playing another.

"Assassination," rather than "murder" reflects Jesse's enormous fame, which haunted him in his final days. You can see the burden of celebrity bearing down through Pitt's portrayal, his blue eyes deader than usual, all swagger gone from his gait. James can muster some of the gregarious nature that became his image but he's tired of living up to it.

"Coward" is the only way to describe Robert Ford who, like the Hinckleys and Chapmans bloodying history, wouldn't be noticed except for a heinous deed. Casey Affleck brilliantly plays him as a fidgety man-child who can't hold eye contact, even when he's trying to sound tough.

"Bob," as he was known before vaulting himself to celebrity, would appreciate being mentioned in the same breath with the man he eerily idolized.

Dominik's film is a grimy, elegant dirge for one era, and an allegory for any era in which someone covets another's fame. The writer-director occasionally gets carried away with the importance of what he's doing, as the 160-minute running time suggests. For example, the whereabouts of Jesse's gang, scattered after their last heist, don't deserve as much attention.

Yet it is hard to complain about those distractions when Dominik and award-worthy cinematographer Roger Deakins are on such an aesthetic roll. Rolling clouds, windblown wheat fields and especially a dead-of-night train robbery using the headlight as key lighting are gorgeous to behold.

Terrence Malick's Days of Heaven and Robert Altman's McCabe & Mrs. Miller are obvious comparisons.

Mood is nearly everything here. While Dominik and Deakins occupy our eyes, a melodically foreshadowing musical score by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis caresses our ears. This isn't a rousing saddlebag saga like 3:10 to Yuma, so action-seeking viewers will be disappointed. There is violence, but except for one clumsy close-range shootout, it is swift and brutal.

Affleck's complex performance, along with his deceptively muted work in Gone Baby Gone, establishes him as one of our finest young actors. Dominik could have extended his glum epilogue - when Bob faces the consequences of infamy, underscored by a damning folk song - and I wouldn't have minded.

Affleck presents Robert Ford with what he wanted. Now everybody will know his name, forever linked with Jesse James'.

Steve Persall can be reached at 727 893-8365 or persall@sptimes.com.

[Last modified October 17, 2007, 14:20:30]