On DVD: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

 

Written for the Screen and Directed By: Andrew Dominik

Starring: Brad Pitt, Casey Afflek, Sam Sheppard, Sam Rockwell

 

The name says it all. The story of the end of Jesse James and the man who killed him.

 

The Movie

 

Twice I've sat down to write this review. As is my custom I will pop in the DVD and watch it while I'm writing. Well the credits are rolling now. That makes three times I've watched this movie over three days. And I wouldn't be surprised if I let it finish a fourth time before I finish this review. I was trying to describe this movie to my  coworkers over lunch today and I kept struggling for words. One of the words I used was “deliberate” John saw through that and said “Oh, you mean slow” and I replied “yeah, but without the bad connotation.” But that is the first thing that comes to mind when I think about this film, deliberate, paced or as John put it slow. The pace may be restrained but the film is carrying a lot of weight. It's inertia sucks you in and pulls you along, from the first iconic shots of Jesse James (Brad Pitt) in domestic tranquility with the poetic narration setting the stage to the first oily smile of Bob Ford (Casey Affleck) trying to hard to impress, to the last frame.

 

Frank (Sam Sheppard) and Jesse are all that's left of the infamous James-Younger gang that emerged from the border wars in Missouri and Civil War Reconstruction. Jesse and Frank are national celebrities but can still pretty much get around with impunity due to their popularity, but the tide is starting to turn. The authorities are getting more serious about stopping them at the same time that they are having to resort to local thugs and a handful of close cousins and other veterans from Quantrill's Raiders to fill out the gang. One of the later additions to the gang, Charley Ford (Sam Rockwell), has brought along his little brother Bob Ford for what will be the James Gangs last train robbery at Blue Cut, Missouri. Bob Ford has idolized Jesse as long as he can remember and while giving Frank the willies manages to ingratiate himself with Jesse. Eventually his sycophancy unnerves even Jesse and he is sent way, but he and his brother Charley's fates are now enmeshed with those of the James gang. Ironically Jesse's paranoia and ruthlessness estranges him from the remainder of the gang except for Bob and Charley who he still does not completely trust.

 

As you can divine from the title the drive of the movie is the relationship of Jesse and Bob it's evolution from hero worship to assassination. The name Jesse James comes first in the title and is in bigger print so it's natural to think that the movie is mostly about Jesse, but if you break the title down, you realize that it Bob Ford that is the one actually doing something. That Bob Ford is actually the dynamic element in the title and so it is in the movie as well. I've heard a lot about Brad Pitt's performance and it is great but it's Casey who really knocks it out of the park. In part because his character has more of an arc through the film but enough can't be said about Casey's performance. Against some of the best like Brad Pitt and Sam Sheppard he holds his own. Even against known scene stealers like Sam Rockwell, Michael Parks, or Ted Levine he still captivates. Of course the best actors can do little with out a great script. I don't know if that's the way late nineteenth century outlaws talked or not but by god that's how they should have talked. The narration is spot on as well, poetic even.

 

The lighting and cinematography are spell binding. Much of the movie is in winter and the soft blue gray light of winter washes out the color. The night shots use the yellow glow of candle light and kerosene lamps to give everything a sepia tint. Of course we associate sepia with those old photos and daguerreotypes another feature of those old daguerreotypes was the blurry vignetting which is replicated sparingly to beautiful effect. Andrew Dominik artfully used the language of film drive home certain themes in the movie. The vignetting along with many shots through antique glass which distort the images beyond remind you that what your seeing is often not reality. There are also many cut scenes of clouds racing across the landscape often with a simple image such as the eave of a house in the foreground reminding us the time is flying past even if were just standing still. The soundtrack is just as touching, magical and haunting it is tone perfect through the whole movie.

 

Well as I'm winding up this review the credits are rolling again. This is one I'll be watching over and over.

 

10/10

 

The Video

 

The widescreen video is typical of what you would expect from a quality transfer. The winter scenes with the washed out blues and grays are crisp. The night shots with the sepia tinted kerosene lamp and candle light are still sharp. I never noticed any grain or jaggies during the actual film but the simple white on black credits exhibited some distortion and rainbowing. I never noticed any blooming or moiré effects. Besides the problems with the credits I couldn't discern any defects in the video.

 

9/10

 

The Audio

 

The audio is presented in Dolby 5.1 in English, French and Spanish with English, French and Spanish subtitles. The surround sound mix is good,  immersive but not overpowering. The mix is good, dynamic but still clear. Often there are conversations going on around the periphery, you hear them but they don't tread on the main dialog, often little snippets of something said a ways off will drift in providing counterpoint, a neat trick. I never noticed any distortion or any defects in the audio.

 

9/10

 

The Packaging and Bonus Features

 

This is the only part of the release that was disappointing. Besides a few previews there are no extras. The DVD case is attractive using the iconic promotional image of Brad Pitt standing in the foreground with Casey Affleck standing in the background. If your a fan of audio commentaries and bonus features I would wait for some kind of special edition, but if you never bother go ahead and snap this one up. Still I'll give it a three just for the artwork and I feel funny rating anything about this movie that low, but what am I going to do there are no bonus features.

3/10

The film is close to flawless, the video and audio are great but the lack of bonus features is a disappointment. If it wasn't such a great movie the lack of bonus stuff wouldn't seem so lacking, but with a film of this quality it really hurts. Unless you never bother with the commentaries or other bonus features I would recommend waiting for some kind of special release of this movie.

  

Overall (Not an Average) 7/10

The Review

The Movie 10/10

The Video 9/10

The Audio 9/10

The Packaging and Bonus Features 3/10

Overall (Not an Average) 7/10

 

-Mike Young