The Assassination of Jesse James

Note: Complete movie title is The Assassination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford

Manu: DVD-9
Manu P/N: NBA-640
Disc Marking: Some chinese markings plus D-9A
DVD Copy? Yes
Audio: W/ English 5.1 Channel Audio
Screen Aspect: Anamorphic Wide Screen
Comments:
- An outstanding technical copy
- Great story, terrific portrayal by the actors. Pitt was his usual, terrific self, but Casey Affleck as Jesse James’ assassin was I feel a breakout role for him. He went in there, & slugged in out toe to toe w/ Pitt, coming out at least at par w/ him acting wise w/ his portrayal Robert Ford. You could really go out & see deeply what kind of a person he was at that age: A young, relatively ignorant farm boy who was obssessed w/ Jesse James, but w/ delusions or ambitions of his own.
- What I liked best about the movie, is that it was basically I think an accurate, historical account, fictionalized by the author (the movie was based on a book) here & there based on documented accounts. So not only are you watching a movie, you are also looking at history itself.
- The movie gives us a detailed but objective view of the Jesse James’ assassination: Although many see Robert Ford’s act of shooting Jesse behind the back as an act of cowardice, the movie reminds us that Jesse also was a charismatic, calculating criminal. Perhaps Ford’s mistake was not shooting Jesse, but his boasting of it afterwards, & using his fame to gain money out of it.
- There’s not much action, though, so some people might find it a bit boring. Kinda long, too, at around 2 1/2 hours. But if you are history buff, then this movie is a must-have.
- For everybody else, overall, though, I’d rate it as Highly Recommended.