The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)

Oh, how long I waited to see this, in eager anticipation for well over a year. So, the question is...was it worth the wait?

The story focuses on the final year of the life of one of America's most infamous, and most controversial, figures, Jesse James before...well, the title kind of tells you the rest. James, depending on who you speak to, was a cold-blooded murderer, a bandit, a philanthropist, a madman, a Robin Hood type character who took from the rich and gave to the poor and an American hero. All these aspects - and many more besides - are captured by the film and by Brad Pitt's outstanding performance in the titular role.

It is difficult to know where to begin with this. Pitt and Casey Affleck (Robert Ford) are both outstanding and deliver 10/10 list-busting performances. For me, Pitt just edges it and that is not in any way a criticism of Affleck, or of the other cast members, to whom I'll return. What's most impressive about Pitt's performance is the gravitas and the depth he lends to the character. James stalks every scene with his aura and charisma. They say you can tell when a great person enters a room and the atmosphere changes and somehow this effect (which I can genuinely believe the historical James possessed) is captured on film. The tension, and James' presence in every room, is palpable and only increases as James becomes more and more unstable, paranoid, and neurotic as the film drifts on. That's a real testament to Pitt, but also to the ensemble cast who are obviously vital in capturing so difficult an essence to bottle. All are excellent, though a particular mention in dispatches must go to the underrated Paul Schneider (as the philandering Dick Liddil) and, especially, to Sam Shepard who plays Frank James, Jesse's almost equally notorious older brother. Sadly, the elder James disappears to early and Schneider is underused. Parts of this actually feel like the Thin Red Line in the way characters flow in and out of the movie as naturally as the light lays on the tips of the Missouri corn on the prairies depicted in the film's most beautiful moments.

Which brings me on to the cinematography. It has to be seen to be believed. I'm not sure I've ever seen such a beautiful film, with its harrowing depictions of wide open, sun-kissed, beauty entwined with bleak, snowy, landscapes that foreshadow James' darkening mood and his ever-shrinking world. Utterly stunning in the way that it encapsulates everything the film seems to be about. Roger Deakins has deservedly been nominated for best cinematography. Will he win? Well, after Saving Private Ryan won in 1999 ahead of the Thin Red Line, I lost what little remaining faith I had in the Oscars to reward quality film making. It would be a crime if Deakins didn't win. Casey Affleck has also been nominated for Best Supporting Actor and would be a worthy winner.

Another excellent thing about this film is that at least the first hour and a half disappears without any kind of plot whatsoever. It's all about life and the characters who make it up. Only half way in does a recognisable plot (as such) begin to develop and that is a huge positive as you are free, during the first part of the film, to invest in the deep and layered characters being presented to you on screen.

If truth be told, there is much more than this to recommend this film but it must be seen to be truly and fully appreciated. It's brilliant. I could have watched on for much longer in the company of these characters and the performers who depict them so brilliantly. An true example of master craftsmen, director, actors, cinematographer, musicians (and many more), at the top of their game and working in harmony to create a spellbinding and sublime whole. If you haven't already (and if you can find a cinema that's showing it) go and see this.

A+

January Preview

With my main 2008 preview to come, here's a little preview of some potential highlights (and lowlights?) in January...

First up, I've gone for the new one from the Coen Brothers' 'No Country For Old Men', featuring a rumoured-to-be-stunning performance from a Matt all-time top 25 performer, Javier Bardem. Also starring Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin, the story focuses on Llewelyn Moss (Brolin) who finds a stash of money and heroin and the bloody events that follow. Bardem seems to have been given huge creative licence and, possibly, the role of a lifetime in the form of a sadistic killer who flips coins for human lives. This could be stunning. Released Friday 18/01/07

Next up comes the Tom Hanks vehicle, Charlie Wilson's War. Hanks plays the titular character who helps to arm Afghan rebels against the Russians, at the heart of the cold-war era, with obvious and deep consequences. This sounds weighty and I'm sure it will be, although I hear that early reviews (unlike No Country For Old Men) have not been favourable, despite it once being an early frontrunner in the Oscar race. Still, an all-star cast of Hanks, the returning Julia Roberts, Amy Adams and the always excellent Philip Seymour Hoffman promises much, not least in dollars, as my colleague's excellent post a month or so back highlighted. Should be worth a watch at least. Released this Friday (11/01/08).

A lowlight for me, but surely a highlight for others, is Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd. I was distinctly unimpressed with the initial trailer and now that I've found out it's a musical, am less impressed still. However, Burton, and his long-time collaborator, the ludicrously handsome Johnny Depp, have massive followings and this is sure to have a wide appeal, even if it is not one I'll be queuing up for. Or even dusting off the Blockbuster shelves in three years for that matter. Still, for those who are going to check it out, expect a colourful interpretation, a solid performance from Depp and plenty of (not Al) gore. I hope you enjoy! Also starring the excellent, and always always watchable, Alan Rickman. And Ali G and Borat creator Sacha Baron Cohen. Released 25/01/08.

On MyFilmVault we always like the personal touch, none of this withdrawn ivory-tower film journalism nonsense on here, so here are two films I'll certainly be checking out in January after belated arrivals to a screen near me in Leicester. The first is Ang Lee's new espionage thriller Lust, Caution, starring one of my favorite actors of all time, Tony Leung. I cannot wait. I can wait even less for a film that I've been salivating over for at least a year, the impressive-looking The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. It seems I'm destined not to see this film, so the projector will probably break or the cinema burn down or my bike will get a flat on the way, or something, so keep your fingers crossed for me. I hope I finally make it! Will post reviews if I do manage to see them both.

And finally...January sees the reissue of a Hitchcock classic and a film Adam and I both adore, The Lady Vanishes (1938), starring Margaret Lockwood, May Whitty and Michael Redgrave. Despite its age, this remains a true edge-of-your-seat thriller about a woman who mysteriously disappears on a train journey, that stands comparison with anything the directors of today can offer. In fact, it surpasses them. Who touches the master after all? If you've not seen it, you've got to check this out, I can promise you that you won't regret it! In fact, even if you have seen it, what an excuse to catch it again with Hitchcock on the big screen!

And that takes us up to 01/02/2008 and the release of my first 'can't wait to see' film of 2008 - Cloverfield, the stunning trailer for which I've pasted below...



HAPPY NEW YEAR MYFILMVAULT READERS!!! Let's hope 2008 is a great year for moviegoing!

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

"When James was around clocks slowed, sounds amplified, rain straightened."


The world's fascination with outlaws is a little bit of a mystery. If anyone these days notched up multiple killings in the same way Jack the Ripper, Ned Kelly, or Jesse James did, they'd be rightly vilified. However if you did it in the late 19th century, you were regarded with anything from respect to outright adulation.

Jesse James has been portrayed 35 times on film as well as countless other times on the small screen. Actors such as Robert Wagner, Tyrone Power and Robert Duvall have taken on the role of America's most fabled outlaw. Brad Pitt turns his hand at this larger than life character to cinemas for the 36th time in Andrew Dominik's second film as director.

Pitt's Jesse James is as the end of his career and both tied to, and tired of, his celebrity status. The Assassination... begins with Jesse and his brother Frank, attempting their very last heist on a railroad in Blue Cut. Their regular gang all killed or captured, the James brothers have recruited a local gang of misfits. During the heist, James has to be pulled off of a postal worker who he attacks not because he has crossed him, nor opposes him, but because he is frustrated by the lack of money in the train's safe; it's the first sign of James losing control. His emotional stability descends throughout the film. He sets upon a young boy. He cries for no reason. He struggles with paranoia.

Unable to trust even his most loyal of friends, James ditches practically everyone that has known him and allows just two men, the Ford brothers, to ride alongside him. The elder brother (Sam Rockwell) is someone James has known for years. His younger brother, Robert (Casey Affleck), is new to the scene but knows more about James, or at least the legend of Jesse James, than anyone. Having idolised him since he was a young boy reading dime novels, Ford realises his dream in living alongside his hero.

Dominik's film follows the path taken by these three men towards a denouement that we know is inevitable from the title of the film, but this is about how we get there, and, more importantly, with who. In a year that already featured as many character driven pieces as the last 4 years combined, we have yet another that confidently and unapolegetically dispenses with a sophisticated or elaborate plot, instead focusing on characterisation.

Pitt's James is probably the best performance of his career, but can't quite stack up to many of the great performances we have seen this year. It also cannot stack up to a brilliant turn by Casey Affleck in a role that will lead to a plethora of scripts landing on his agent's doorstep. I've seen Affleck in throwaway roles in the American Pie and Ocean's etc films and that very small role in Good Will Hunting. He played a teen in that film, and, 10 years on manages to get away with playing a teen again. At 32 he looks much younger and totally passes for an immature 19 year old. The one substantial performance of his I've caught was in The Last Kiss, and I have to say it wasn't an enjoyable one.

I kid you not when I say I had to turn the subtitles on every time Affleck spoke. It was an absurdly hushed and inarticulate delivery and one that made me question his ability. However here any inarticulateness is absolutely perfect in capturing a character who openly admits in the first scene of the film that he creates an awful impression on everyone he meets. Ford is almost impossibly mumbling and nervous. Frank James (Sam Shepherd) announces after meeting Ford for the first time that he gives him the willies and not to be within earshot of him for the rest of the evening.

It is a joy to watch Affleck's performance as the strength is that his is not an overtly affected one, rather like Pitt's delivery in Twelve Monkeys for instance. His mannerisms and anxiety are more subtle. There's also a charater arc here that is convincing and substantial. He totally convinces and certainly finds himself on the shortlist for year end awards consideration.

I've read that Dominik's first cut ran at 4 hours long. The cinema release runs 2 hours 40 minutes. Nothing is rushed. Nothing is forced. Dominik's screenplay is an adaptation of the 1983 novel by Ron Hansen, one that was shortlisted for the PEN/Faulkner Award. Indeed the screenplay is extremely literary, in the very best sense of the word. Much of what we learn about James is delivered in Hugh Ross' narration, with wonderfully poetic passages, that ensure that this device, which is rarely used well, and often completely ruinous to a film, actually adds to the quality of this picture. The first line in this review is an example and this is, I believe, amongst the best narration committed to screen, although I'm sure many will see even this as a distraction or perhaps even a sign that the story wasn't being told through the characters themselves. Whilst that may be a criticism of narration in general, I don't feel it's fair to use that here.

Perhaps though it does bring some slight negatives. Pitt's James never quite captures the iconic, "clock slowing" grandeur that is described to us. Whilst certainly good, perhaps even very good, it's not a performance that screams Oscar, nor in fact should even be considered for a nomination. Affleck out-acts Pitt in every scene they share and should receive any acting notices the film gets.

Other quibbles include a pointless turn by Mary Louise Parker as James' wife. Parker is a very talented actress, but is completely wasted here and her one reasonable scene towards the end doesn't work. At 160 minutes this is not necessarily too long - indeed it is not a tough sit at all and if trimmed would have felt rushed, however there are some moments that do drag ever so slightly.

But this is a very good film , featuring one very very good performance and stunning cinematography from the always brilliant Roger Deakins. Deakins is the director of photography of choice for the Coen Bros, for Sam Mendes and undoubtedly for many other who would jump at the chance of working with him, if only he wasn't so in demand. He delivers visuals that are as beautiful as anyone else working today and a career that boasts just 5 Oscar nominations, and zero wins, is bordering on travesty. He'll surely be nominated this year and must stand a good chance of winning.

Also notable is Nick Cave's score. Perhaps not quite astonishing enough to throw superlatives at, it is certainly very good and a wonderful composition.

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is another fine entry into 2007's catalogue of great films. It demands to be seen on the big screen, so do so while you have the chance.

B+