"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford"
Russell Watson
are?
I enjoyed the movie, liked the book better but that isn't unusual, by
a long shot. Below is what I wrote about it in a totally unrelated
group a week or so ago, so ignore refernces to things not discussed
here (not many):
Ok, having recommended "Tombstone" and "Lonesome Dove" to good results
I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say this may be worthwhile, also.
Most of the regs here are fans of "Deadwood" and are already familiar
with the often very stilted form of speech used in the Old West. This
movie features both narration and dialogue in that style (minus the
prolific vulgarities, as it is set in a somewhat more "civilized" area
of the country than the Dakota Territories of "Deadwood"). It also has
"Deadwood" alum Garret Dillahunt in a small featured role, so there's
something there for you right off the bat.
Sam Shepard has a very brief but well-played role as Frank James.
Casey Affleck plays Bob Ford in a manner totally different from the
conniving version of any previous film. This guy is the prototype of
the obsessed fan, ala Mark David Chapman, with the added motivation of
having good reason to be scared shitless.
Brad Pitt as Jesse James will scare the hell out of you, especially if
you keep in mind that this is probably the most accurate portrayal of
that character as a person as any that has been done. A laughing,
jovial, Bible-reading, tender-hearted, family-oriented "gentleman" who
was also totally paranoid and could turn into a homicidal maniac at
the drop of a hat and drop the hat himself.
All the supporting characters are good and you get to hear Bones'
little sister, Zooey, who has an album due out soon, use her pipes a
bit near the end of the movie.
Caveats: the movie is long (160 minutes) and moves at a leisurely pace
for the most part. It is also painstakingly historically accurate,
following the exhaustively researched novel by Ron Hansen to the last
detail. That book is only a "novel" in that it features conversations
and encounters that can only be surmised, but as far as any factual
detail that can be historically verified it is practically an
encyclopedia of the waning days of the James Gang. That means that to
those of us who are students of that history it is fascinating, while
those who are more into a fictionalized shoot'em up version might find
it hard to sit through. What "Wyatt Earp" was to "Tombstone" and
earlier versions of the Earp saga this movie is to all earlier
versions of Jesse James...but with better acting in general, though in
fairness to Costner, Earp was described by his contemporaries as a
somewhat dull character so as far as characterizations that film is
probably no less accurate. Also, whereas the Earp movie was shot using
somewhat straightforward movie-making techniques, "The
Assassination..." is a beautiful piece of work that easily qualifies
as "art", and I regret that it only played locally in the '70s era
theater that runs foreign, art, and indy flicks on relatively tiny
screens with an inferior sound system, and that even at that I failed
to see it because it was around for such a short time. Either way it's
a bigger screen than my damn 18-y/o TV.
I had to buy the movie because it's exclusive to Blockbuster and we
only have Movie Gallery here, but I don't regret the purchase. I
wanted to see it badly enough based on reviews that I couldn't wait
for the lower price that will be available in a few months and if I
ever get a hi-def system I might even buy it again in that format.
It's that pretty to look at, IMO. While I may not watch it as often as
I drag out my DVD (one of the first I bought when I got my player) of
the 1980 gimmick flick "The Long Riders", which tells essentially the
same story within the larger history of the James-Younger Gang though
with a few western myths thrown in for good measure (Cole Younger
engaging Sam Starr in a Bowie knife fight over the affections of Sam's
wife, Belle, for instance) it is still something I will have the odd
yen for when I tire of the fictionalized bullshit.
Iyotake
back.
--
Iyotake
EZ rider
Iyotake
--
Iyotake
Russell Watson
>It sure was LONG for such a depressing tale :(
That was a drastically edited version. At one point it was over 3
hours in length. I still liked it. If they ever release the original
cut I'll probably buy it, though I may watch it over a few nights like
a TV mini-series rather than all of a piece like a movie. Different
strokes and all that, I guess.