The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is a 2007 American Western drama film. The film is directed by Andrew Dominik, with Brad Pitt portraying Jesse James and Casey Affleck as his eventual killer Robert Ford. Filming took place in Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg. Initially intended for a 2006 release, the film was postponed and re-edited for a September 21, 2007 release. An adaptation of Ron Hansen's 1983 novel of the same name, the film dramatizes the relationship between James and Ford.
Premise and title
The film was adapted from Ron Hansen's 1983 novel of the same name.
Unlike Jesse James movies of the past, Andrew Dominik's film is presented as a psychoanalytical historical epic rather than a shoot-'em-up western. The movie details the outlaw's deteriorating psyche during his final months of life as he slowly succumbs to paranoia and develops a precarious friendship with his eventual assassin, Robert Ford. The strange relationship between the two men is examined over the course of the film.
Peter Bradshaw's review in The Guardian makes note of James' contribution to his own demise as well as the apparent paradox present in the title of both novel and film:
As his career draws to an end, Jesse James becomes aware of the impossibility of facing an increasingly vast army of sheriffs, federal agents and Pinkerton men. He senses that, inevitably, one of his gang will in any case sell him out for a fat reward. Unwilling to give the lawmen that satisfaction, James embraces his own death and subtly cultivates the mercurial attentions of the most obviously cringing and cowardly of his associates: 20-year-old Robert Ford. With the taunts and whims of a lover, he encourages Ford's envious, murderous fascination, and grooms him as his own killer, so that his own legend will be pristine after his death. He engineers a character-assassination of Ford, and the title, knowingly, gets it precisely the wrong way around.[3]
Ford, who grew up idolizing James and wishing to join the gang himself, sets off on a mission to Glendale, Missouri, where the James-Younger Gang are staging the last train robbery of their careers. It is this depiction of Ford's encounter with James in the fall of 1881 which sets off the film.
Plot
The film starts off with the narrator introducing many facts and legends about the American Old West outlaw, Jesse James (Pitt). Aside from Jesse, the film also tells the story of Robert Ford (Affleck), an insecure, unpopular young man who has grown up idolizing Jesse James. Bob seeks out his hero in the middle of a forest in Blue Cut, Missouri where the James gang is staging a train robbery. Bob makes petty attempts to join the gang with the help of his brother Charley (Sam Rockwell), who had been recently recruited. Jesse allows Bob to take part in the train robbery to try to prove himself, but Jesse's brother Frank James (Sam Shepard) disagrees, saying that Bob hasn't the ingredients to become a member in their gang. Gradually, Bob forms a love/hate relationship with Jesse, admiring him to the point of obsession while resenting his constant bullying. Bored with Bob's fawning, Jesse eventually sends him away.
Months later, the gang members have gone their separate ways after their last train robbery. From this point on, Bob still wants to get involved in the gang as he starts to familiarize himself with the other recruits, who often stay at the farmhouse of Martha Bolton (Alison Elliott), the elder sister of the Ford siblings. Jesse's cousin Wood Hite (Jeremy Renner) also stays there; he is attracted to Martha, but Dick Liddil (Paul Schneider), a charming womanizer, frequently gets in his way. During Dick and Wood's stay in the latter's home in Kentucky, Dick sleeps with Wood's father's wife, Sarah Hite (Kailin See). It is later related (while not seen) that Wood challenges Dick to a gunfight upon finding out, but it ends in a stalemate.
In exchange for a partnership, Dick reveals to Bob that he is in cahoots with Jim Cummins, an elusive gang member conspiring to capture Jesse for a bounty. Jesse visits Ed Miller (Garret Dillahunt), another former gang member, who unwittingly gives away information on Cummins' plot. Thus, Jesse lures Ed deep into the woods and kills him, before going on a hunt for Jim. Jesse stops by Kansas City to bring Dick along for the hunt, and the two head to Bill Ford's farm, where Jim usually stays. Bill is married to Jim's sister, and is Bob and Charley's paternal uncle. At the farm, Dick and Jesse are greeted by Albert Ford, Bill's young son. Although Albert does not know where Jim is staying, Jesse brings the child to a barn nearby and violently beats him. Dick stops Jesse to prevent further harm to the boy. Confused and frightened, Jesse begins weeping and rides away to regather himself. Dick decides to travel back to Martha's farm, and in doing so conveniently apologizes to the Fords for Jesse.
Wood returns from Kentucky to the Bolton farmhouse in a wintery morning. While Dick is still asleep upstairs with Bob and Charley, Wood retells his shooting scrape with Dick to Martha and Wilbur (another Ford brother) in the kitchen. When Wood discovers Dick is upstairs, he rushes up the staircase to the closed bedroom door, and Bob and Dick prepare themselves for the imminent gunfight. Wood kicks the door open, and the shooting begins. Charley jumps out of a window to dodge the gunfire, spraining his ankle, as Robert cowers in his bed. After a short gun battle, Bob shoots Wood in the back of the head, mortally wounding him. After Wood dies, the Fords dump his body in the woods nearby and hatch a plan to conceal this event from Jesse.
Jesse re-emerges one night to pay a visit to the Fords. During dinner, Jesse notices Bob's anxiety and forces Bob to tell a story. Bob then reluctantly recites a long list of similarities he has with Jesse. Jesse is somewhat disturbed by this, and in return tells a story about once killing a man who held a grudge against him, explaining how Bob slightly reminds him of that man. Bob, now humiliated, throws a fit and miserably leaves the room, while Jesse and Charley plan a trip to St. Joseph, Missouri. At his home in St. Joseph, Jesse learns of Wood's disappearance.
Bob begins to lose respect for Jesse as he realizes the nickel books about Jesse he had read during his childhood have little resemblance to the man he now knows. Consequently, Bob talks with Kansas City police commissioner Henry Craig (Michael Parks), saying that he has information regarding Jesse James' whereabouts. To prove his allegiance with the James Gang, Bob urges Craig to arrest Dick Liddil, who has been staying at the Bolton farmhouse. Days after Dick's arrest, Bob attends a party held by the Governor of Missouri, Thomas T. Crittenden (James Carville), celebrating Henry Craig's efforts to finally rid Jackson County of the James Gang. To Bob's surprise, Dick Liddil has been released from jail and is now meeting with the governor. It is revealed that authorities aren't particularly interested in prosecuting Liddil; they're really after Jesse James. To save himself, Liddil has disclosed information about the James Gang's robberies in his confession. Afterward, Bob is brought into a meeting with the governor, and subsequently strikes up a deal with him. Bob is given 10 days to capture or assassinate Jesse James for a bounty of $10,000, and is given further instructions by Craig's partner, Sheriff James Timberlake (Ted Levine). Meanwhile, on the way back from St. Joseph, Jesse talks to Charley about suicide. Charley then convinces Jesse to take Bob under his wing.
The brothers move in with Jesse to his home in St. Joseph, where they stay with Jesse's wife Zee (Mary-Louise Parker) and their two children. One night in the living room, Jesse invites the Fords to take part in the robbery of the Platte City bank. He enacts the way he'll cut the cashier's throat, and demonstrates this by holding a knife to Bob's neck. Convinced that Jesse will eventually kill them, Bob decides to kill him first. As a way to apologize for his actions, Jesse gives Bob a brand new pistol on April Fools' Day, and tells him that he fears for his own sanity.
On the day of the assassination, Jesse goes out to retrieve the latest newspaper, which contains a story about Liddel's arrest and confession. Terrified, Bob slips the front section of the newspaper under a shawl, then straps on his gun holster before sitting down in the kitchen for breakfast. Immediately, Jesse walks back to the sitting-room and discovers the hidden section of the newspaper, learning of Dick's confession. Jesse glares at Bob, and asks why this matter hadn't been reported to him. Panicked, Bob excuses himself and retreats to the sitting-room rocking chair, and Charley soon follows him to put on his holster. Jesse walks in to see if the two are ready for the trip to Platte City. After some silent contemplation, Jesse takes off his gun belt and lays it on the couch. Jesse sets up a chair under a dusty portrait and climbs on top of it with a feather duster in one hand. The Fords draw their guns, and Bob shoots Jesse in the back of the head, killing him instantly. When Zee tearfully questions Bob, he denies doing or knowing anything before Charley pulls him out of the house, declaring it an "accident". The Fords run down to the telegraph office in order to wire the governor about the news. A brief montage then follows, describing what is to happen to the body of Jesse James.
After the assassination, the Fords become celebrities and end up in a theater show in Manhattan, re-enacting the assassination night after night with Bob playing himself, and Charley as Jesse James. Guilt-stricken, Charley attempts to write letters to Zee James, asking for her forgiveness, but would never actually send them. Overwhelmed with despair and terminally ill from tuberculosis, Charley commits suicide in May 1884.
After Charley's death, Bob's life takes a turn for the worse. He is openly shunned by the public and is branded a cowardly traitor, and threats from strangers are almost a daily occurrence. At times of anger, Bob dreams of visiting the families of Jesse James' victims, hoping to convince himself that he killed Jesse for the benefit of humanity. Bob becomes an alcoholic, trapped in a constant struggle to liberate himself from his ever-growing guilt.
Ten years have passed since Jesse's assassination. Bob has prospered over the past decade, and now acquires a steady income working as a saloonkeeper in the small mining town of Creede, Colorado. He becomes romantically involved with a dancer named Dorothy Evans (Zooey Deschanel), who would have long conversations with Bob in hopes of providing comfort to him. In the closing moments of the film, Bob is sought out and murdered by a man named Edward O'Kelley. At the same time, the narrator ends the film with an epilogue, recounting that O'Kelley would later be pardoned, and that in contrast to Jesse James, Robert Ford would achieve no fame after his death.
Main cast
- Gang
- Brad Pitt as Jesse James, the notorious outlaw of Missouri. Although violent in nature, ferocious and cunning when he is off with his gang, Jesse is always calm and protective when around his family, refusing to let his children know about his criminal life. Jesse is weathered by life and is exhausted from being chased by the law, which has been pursuing him for well over a decade. His sheer paranoia has driven him to the brink of insanity, and it has become increasingly difficult for him to trust those who are closest to him, in fear that they might turn against him. For this reason he secretly desires to live a quieter life and even contemplates suicide every so often, but his reputation hangs in the balance, and there is no easy way out.
- Casey Affleck as Robert "Bob" Ford, a young man, not long out of his teens, who is eager to make a name for himself. Born to a large family, Bob is the youngest of seven children, and is picked on because of his socially awkward nature. Bob would always turn to Jesse James as an ambiguous source of pride or inspiration. Wanting to meet his hero in person, he joined his older brother Charley with the James gang. He attempts to earn Jesse's approval, but Jesse's paranoia and inconsistent behaviour, as well as his tendency to exploit Bob's awkwardness sees Bob grow disillusioned with him. With the chance to make a name for himself and receive a full pardon, Bob decides to kill Jesse without thinking about the repercussions such an act can cause.
- Sam Rockwell as Charley Ford, the cheerful older brother of Bob Ford, who attempts to get his younger brother the acceptance he desperately yearns for. After much pleading, Charley finally convinces Jesse to take Bob in under his wing, only to learn that Bob has other motives in mind. Struck with deep regret, Charley accompanies Bob during the assassination, ultimately leading both brothers to certain doom.
- Paul Schneider as Dick Liddil, the most promiscuous member in the gang. Dick is bursting with arrogance, and always eloquent in his speech and delivery, making him one of the more charming characters in the film. Liddil has an ability to lie his way out of most problems, and Wood Hite deeply envies his ability to live a carefree life as a lothario.
- Jeremy Renner as Wood Hite, the younger cousin of Frank and Jesse James. Hite uses his kinship with the James family as a method to intimidate others, especially Bob. Wood later on develops a feud with Dick Liddil, which eventually causes a disastrous chain reaction.
- Sam Shepard as Frank James, the older brother of Jesse James, who is described as a stern and very constrained man. Although only aged 38, his life as bandit has influenced his appearance to that of a 50-year-old. The brothers hardly ever communicate with each other, if so only with melancholic gazes or a few abrupt words. Frank leaves Jesse early to escape the monotony of the crime life.
- Garret Dillahunt as Ed Miller, a lonesome, dimwitted outlaw who is left with close to nothing after the James Gang disbanded. Jesse pays him an unexpected visit in the winter of 1881, and Ed reveals too much about a conspiracy involving Jesse's capture, driving Jesse to a reckless hunt for those involved.
- Women
- Mary-Louise Parker as Zerelda "Zee" James, the wife of Jesse James. Zee is in constant concern for her husband's well-being, and is equally protective and caring about their children.
- Zooey Deschanel as Dorothy Evans, a young woman that Robert Ford confides in during the last months of his life in Creede, Colorado. Knowing that she can sing and attract customers, Bob hires her for his nightclub, and even sparks up a romantic relationship with her. Until his death, Dorothy remains the only person that Bob has spoken revealingly to about his motives for killing Jesse. The character of Dorothy Evans is largely fictionalized.
- Alison Elliott as Martha Bolton, the widowed elder sister of Robert and Charles Ford. Her farmhouse serves as a place where members of the James Gang would frequent when in need of shelter, or a place to hide out. Dick Liddil and Wood Hite attempt to win her affections.
- Kailin See as Sarah Hite, the stepmother of Wood Hite. Her affair with Dick Liddil causes the two men's friendship to sever, resulting in deadly consequences.
- Authorities
- James Carville as Thomas T. Crittenden, the Governor of Missouri. Crittenden is growing increasingly tired of the James Gang's antics, and thus hires Bob Ford to capture or assassinate Jesse James for the $10,000 bounty.
- Michael Parks as Henry Craig, a local police commissioner who has sworn to eradicate the James Gang from the state of Missouri.
- Ted Levine as Sheriff James Timberlake, a local sheriff who warns Bob to use caution during his assignment.
- Other
Production
This working engine and train at Fort Edmonton Park was featured in the film
In March 2004, Warner Bros. and Plan B Entertainment acquired feature film rights to Hansen's 1983 novel The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Andrew Dominik was hired to direct and write the film adaptation, with Pitt being eyed to portray Jesse James.[4] The role of Ford eventually was between Affleck and Shia LaBeouf; Affleck was cast because it was felt that LaBeouf was too young. Bill Clinton's presidential campaign strategist James Carville was selected to play the Governor of Missouri. [5] By January 2005, Pitt was cast in the role,[6] and filming began on August 29, 2005 in Calgary.[7] Filming also took place in other parts of Alberta, including McKinnon Flats, Heritage Park, the Fairmont Palliser Hotel, the Kananaskis area, several private ranches[8] and the historical Fort Edmonton Park.[8] The historical town of Creede, Colorado was recreated at a cost of $1 million near Goat Creek in Alberta.[9] Filming also took place in Winnipeg in the city's historic Exchange District; the Burton Cummings Theatre (formerly known as The Walker Theatre) and the Pantages Playhouse Theatre,[10] and concluded in December 2005.[9]
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford was initially edited by director Dominik to be "a dark, contemplative examination of fame and infamy,"[11] similar to the style of director Terrence Malick. The studio opposed Dominik's approach, preferring less contemplation and more action. One version of the film had a running time of more than three hours. Pitt and Ridley Scott, producers of the film, and editors Dylan Tichenor (who left the production early to cut There Will Be Blood, and was replaced with editor Curtiss Clayton, who ultimately finished the production) and Michael Kahn (who was brought in for several weeks as the studio's "go to" editor), collaborated to assemble and test different versions, which did not receive strong scores from test audiences. Despite the negative response, the audiences considered the performances by Pitt and Affleck to be some of their careers' best.[12] Brad Pitt had it written into his contract that the studio could not change the name of the film.[13]
Cinematography
An exterior shot of
Creede, Colorado from a distance. Notice the color diffraction around the edges, almost replicating the look of old photographs.
One of the most well-known sequences of the film is the scene of a train robbery at night time. Cinematographer Roger Deakins used various cinematographic techniques to give the train more of a presence when it was in pitch darkness. The idea was to generate a heavy sense of atmosphere using only the lanterns held up by the outlaws and the 5K Par light mounted on the front of the train.[15]
In order to enhance the blacks, Deakins did a slight bleach bypass on the negative, which was especially important in terms of rendering detail.[16]
Some scenes in the film have a blurred effect around the borders of the frame, which were achieved by taking old wide-angle lenses and mounting them onto the front several cameras (Arri Macros in this case). Deakins claimed to have pioneered this technique, naming these combinations of lenses "Deakinizers", which created the effect of vignetting and slight color diffraction around the edges. Deakins recalls:[17]
| “ |
Most of those shots were used for transitional moments, and the idea was to create the feeling of an old-time camera. We weren’t trying to be nostalgic, but we wanted those shots to be evocative. The idea sprang from an old photograph Andrew [Dominik] liked, and we did a lot of tests to mimic the look of the photo. Andrew had a whole lot of photographic references for the look of the movie, mainly the work of still photographers, but also images clipped from magazines, stills from Days of Heaven, and even Polaroids taken on location that looked interesting or unusual. He hung all of them up in the long corridor of the production office. That was a wonderful idea, because every day we'd all pass by [images] that immediately conveyed the tone of the movie he wanted to make. |
” |
Several time-lapse footages appear throughout the film, which were shot by Steadicam operator Damon Moreau. According to Deakins, Moreau would be sent out to do these shots when the crew wasn't ready to shoot a scene yet.[16] Often accompanied by the film's melancholic score, these time-lapse sequences remind the audience of the passing time, developing an uneasiness that eventually builds up to the inevitable yet unsettling climax.
Music
The music for the film was composed by Australian musicians Nick Cave and Warren Ellis. Both men also collaborated to create the award winning score for the Australian film The Proposition in 2005.[18]
Nick Cave has a minor part in the latter stages of the film, playing a strolling balladeer in a crowded bar, where, unrecognized by the other patrons, Bob Ford must endure the humiliating lyrics of "The Ballad of Jesse James" as performed by Cave.[19]
Cave and Ellis released a double disc album titled White Lunar in September 2009, which contains several tracks from the Jesse James score, as well as tracks they composed for other films up to 2009.[20]
Release
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford was originally slated for a September 15, 2006 release.[21] The release date was postponed to February 2007 at first,[22] but ultimately set for a September 21, 2007 release,[23] almost two years after filming was completed.[12]
The film opened in limited release on September 21, 2007, in 5 theaters and grossed $147,812 in its opening weekend, an average of $29,256 per theater.[24] The film has a total gross of less than $4 million.
Warner Home Video released the film on DVD on February 5, 2008[25] in the US, and on March 31 in the UK. So far, about 566,537 DVD units have been sold, bringing $9,853,258 in revenue.[26]
Reception
Critical reaction
As of December 7, 2007 on the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film received a 75 percent fresh rating from 142 reviews and 58 percent from 31 the Cream of the Crop .[27] On Metacritic, the film had an average score of 68 out of 100, based on 31 reviews.[28]
Brian Tallerico of UGO gave the film an "A" and said that it is "the best western since Unforgiven." Tallerico also said, "Stunning visuals, award-worthy performances, and a script that takes incredibly rewarding risks, Jesse James is a masterpiece and one of the best films of the year."[29] Kurt Loder of MTV said, "If I were inclined to wheel out clichés like 'Oscar-worthy', I'd certainly wheel them out in support of this movie, on several counts."[30] Richard Roeper on the television show Ebert & Roeper said, "If you love classic and stylish mood Westerns such as McCabe and Mrs. Miller and The Long Riders, this is your film."[31] The Star-Ledger film critic Stephen Whitty gave the film four stars and called it an "epic film that's part literary treatise, part mournful ballad, and completely a portrait of our world, as seen in a distant mirror." Whitty also said that the film is "far superior" and "truer to its own world" than 3:10 to Yuma.[32] Josh Rosenblatt of The Austin Chronicle gave the film 3½ stars and said the film "grabs on to many of the classic tropes of the Western — the meandering passage of time, the imposing landscapes, the abiding loneliness, the casual violence — and sets about mapping their furthest edges."[33]
Film critic Emanuel Levy gave the film an "A" and wrote, "Alongside Joel and Ethan Coen's No Country for Old Men, which is a Western in disguise, or rather a modern Western, Assassination of Jesse James is the second masterpiece of the season." Levy also wrote, "Like Bonnie & Clyde, Dominik's seminal Western is a brilliant, poetic saga of America's legendary criminal as well as meditative deconstruction of our culture's most persistent issues: link of crime and fame, myths of heroism and obsession with celebrity."[34] Lewis Beale of Film Journal International said "Impeccably shot, cast and directed, this is a truly impressive film from sophomore writer-director Andrew Dominik...but suffers from an unfortunate case of elephantiasis." Beale said Affleck is "outstanding in a breakout performance" and said Pitt is "scary and charismatic." Beale wrote, "The director seems so in love with his languorous pacing, he’s incapable of cutting the five or ten seconds in any number of scenes that could have given the film a more manageable running time. In the scheme of things, however, this amounts to little more than a quibble." Beale said that ultimately, the film is "a fascinating, literary-based work that succeeds as both art and genre film."[35]
British critic Mark Kermode named the film as his best of 2007 in his end-of-year review on Simon Mayo's BBC radio programme.[36] Kermode later wrote that historians a hundred years from now will consider it "one of the most wrongly neglected masterpieces of its era."[37]
Many critics opined that the film is too long. Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter said that the relationship between Pitt and Affleck "gets smothered in pointlessly long takes, repetitive scenes, grim Western landscapes and mumbled, heavily accented dialogue."[38] Los Angeles Daily News critic Bob Strauss gave the film 2½ stars out of 4 and said, "To put it most bluntly, the thing is just too long and too slow." Strauss also said, "Every element of this Western is beautifully rendered. So why is it a chore to sit through?"[39] Pam Grady of Reel.com gave the film 2 stars out of 4 and said, "The movie is merely a long, empty exercise in style."[40] Stephanie Zacharek of Salon.com said that the film "represents a breakthrough in the moviegoing experience. It may be the first time we've been asked to watch a book on tape."[41]
Jesse James' descendants have effusively praised the film, specifically singling out Affleck and Pitt for their performances.[42]
Top ten lists
The film appeared on many critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2007.[43]
- 1st - Mark Kermode, BBC Radio 5 Live
- 1st - Peter Vonder Haar, Film Threat
- 1st - Ray Bennett, The Hollywood Reporter
- 1st - Matt Cale, Ruthless Reviews[44]
- 2nd - Dennis Harvey, Variety
- 3rd - Claudia Puig, USA Today
- 3rd - Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle
- 4th - Tom Charity, CNN[45]
- 4th - Jack Mathews, New York Daily News
- 4th - Scott Tobias, The A.V. Club
- 5th - Empire magazine
- 5th - Keith Phipps, The A.V. Club
- 5th - Tasha Robinson, The A.V. Club
- 6th - Scott Foundas, LA Weekly
- 6th - Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader
- 7th - Sight & Sound magazine
- 9th - Lisa Schwarzbaum, Entertainment Weekly
- 9th - Nick Schager, Slant Magazine
- 9th - Michael Phillips, Chicago Tribune
- 10th - J. Hoberman, The Village Voice
Historical accuracy
The film is considered as one of the most historically accurate portrayals of Jesse James and Robert Ford, even by James' descendants, who found both performances more realistic and true to history than the dozens that came before them.[46]
Accolades
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford was identified by the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures as one of the top 10 films of 2007. The board also named Casey Affleck as Best Supporting Actor in the film.[47] The San Francisco Film Critics Circle named The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford as the Best Picture of 2007. The circle also awarded Affleck as best supporting actor for the film. Affleck was nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture for the 65th Golden Globe Awards.[48]
The film received two Academy Award nominations for the 80th Academy Awards. Affleck was nominated for Best Supporting Actor and Roger Deakins was nominated for Best Cinematography.[49] Earlier in the year, Brad Pitt won the prestigious Volpi Cup for Best Actor when the film premiered at the annual Venice Film Festival. Several other awards circles also awarded composers Nick Cave and Warren Ellis for their music in the film (see below).
As of September 2009, the film is placed at the 67th spot on the They Shoot Pictures, Don't They? list of The 21st Century's Most Acclaimed Films.[50] The film also holds a place on Empire's recent list of The 500 Greatest Films of All Time, coming in at #396.[51]
References
External links
