The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford [Blu-ray] | ![The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51RfcXAyYqL._SL500_.jpg)
| Actors: Tom Aldredge, Michael Copeman, Alison Elliott, Ted Levine, Mary-louise Parker
Studio: Warner Home Video
Category: DVD
List Price: $35.99
Buy New: $12.00
You Save: $23.99 (67%)
New (42) Used (19) Collectible (1) from $9.28
Rating:  236 reviews
Sales Rank: 5887
Format: Ac-3, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, Dubbed, Subtitled, Widescreen
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Subtitled), French (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), French (Dubbed), Spanish (Dubbed)
Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: Blu-ray
Region: 0
Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
Number Of Discs: 1
Running Time: 160 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 5.3 x 0.5
MPN: 82972
UPC: 012569829725
EAN: 0012569829725
ASIN: B0010V60XE
Theatrical Release Date: 2007
Release Date: February 5, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com
Of all the movies made about or glancingly involving the 19th-century outlaw Jesse Woodson James, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is the most reflective, most ambitious, most intricately fascinating, and indisputably most beautiful. Based on the novel of the same name by Ron Hansen, it picks up James late in his career, a few hours before his final train robbery, then covers the slow catastrophe of the gang's breakup over the next seven months even as the boss himself settles into an approximation of genteel retirement. But in another sense all of the movie is later than that. The very title assumes the audience's familiarity with James as a figure out of history and legend, and our awareness that he was--will be--murdered in his parlor one quiet afternoon by a backshooting crony. The film--only the second to be made by New Zealand-born writer-director Andrew Dominik--reminds us that Dominik's debut film, Chopper (2000), was the cunningly off-kilter portrait of another real-life criminal psychopath who became a kind of rock star to his society. The Jesse James of this telling is no Robin Hood robbing the rich to give to the poor, and that train robbery we witness is punctuated by acts of gratuitous brutality, not gallantry. Nineteen-year-old Bob Ford (Casey Affleck) seeks to join the James gang out of hero worship stoked by the dime novels he secretes under his bed, but his glam hero (Brad Pitt) is a monster who takes private glee in infecting his accomplices with his own paranoia, then murdering them for it. In the careful orchestration of James's final moments, there's even a hint that he takes satisfaction in his own demise. Affleck and Pitt (who co-produced with Ridley Scott, among others) are mesmerizing in the title roles, but the movie is enriched by an exceptional supporting cast: Sam Shepard as Jesse's older, more stable brother Frank; Sam Rockwell as Bob Ford's own brother Charlie, whose post-assassination descent into madness is astonishing to behold; Paul Schneider, Garret Dillahunt, and Jeremy Renner as three variously doomed gang members; and Mary-Louise Parker, who as Jesse's wife Zee has few lines yet manages with looks and body language to invoke a wellnigh-novelistic backstory for herself. There are also electrifying cameos by James Carville, doing solid actorly work as the governor of Missouri; Ted Levine, as a lawman of antic spirit; and Nick Cave, composer of the film's score (with Warren Ellis) and screenwriter of the Aussie "Western" The Proposition, suddenly towering over a late scene to perform the folk song that set the terms for the book and movie's title. Still, the real costar is Roger Deakins, probably the finest cinematographer at work today. The landscapes of the movie (mostly in Alberta and Manitoba) will linger in the memory as long as the distinctive faces, and we seem to feel the sting of its snows on our cheeks. Interior scenes are equally persuasive. Few Westerns have conveyed so tangibly the bleakness and austerity of the spaces people of the frontier called home, and sought in vain to warm with human spirit. --Richard T. Jameson
Product Description
Bluray Disc
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| Customer Reviews: Read 231 more reviews...
 Brilliant and Beautiful July 5, 2009
Jason S (DFW, TX)
This movie is amazing. Yes, it's slow paced, but it's the best slow-paced movie i've ever seen in my life.
Being originally from IN, I didn't really know much about jesse james, but this movie taught me everything i needed to know. It is so intellegent,well-written, and fascinating.
This movie also has a style all it's own. It has such beautiful colors and is shot so magnificently. It's as fun to watch the scenery as well as the movie.
Brad Pitt is really good in this movie, and really brings jesse james to life, and casey afleck is good too. You kind of end up feeling really bad for robert ford by the end of the movie, becuase the characters are just so well developed. This movie is a history lesson, and anyone that likes wild west movies should love this.
Oh, and the soundtrack and sound effects are great too, everything is just so haunting, and artistic.
If you want a smart movie that will make you think, and actually feel for the characters. Best movie i've seen in years. 10 stars.
One of the best movies I've seen July 4, 2009
J. L. Harmon (Tampa, FL United States)
This movie was such a classic in my mind that I was surprised to find so many negative reviews. So instead of reiterating other positive reviews, I'll try to defend this film from some of those negative comments.
First, I believe this movie to be a masterpiece. This happens when a group of people--actors, directors, writers, photography, etc--come together to convey a single profound message to the viewer. By necessity, there must be some resonance in that viewer and a desire to explore the depth and meaning of the story. This story is deep and you won't get satisfaction from it with a cursory look. You either have to be ready or be willing to be pulled into the characters and the story line. Any film that delves into character analysis, especially of two people like this one, must necessarily pack material and avoid using time wasting dramatic effects that attract viewers on a more superficial level. I wasn't expecting this when my wife and I sat down to watch this film and we started kind of late. But this movie literally locked us in our seats.
The film is long and there is a lack of "action" in terms of a typical western. However, the action is in the character and story development. Each side story, each additional character development, is placed and used for a reason, ie, to build the story. For some, the character development of Dick Liddl must have seemed pointless. Without him, we don't fully understand the complex and mendacious nature of the James Gang. He is the landscape upon which the main characters, Jesse, Bob Ford and Charlie Ford, are painted.
When there is "action", it is quick, violent, chaotic and short. The film makers don't glorify it. The film makers build a lot of anxiety with use of guns. The characters have a lot of problems as it is and you are always reminded that these characters and others like them can be tempted to solve their problems with violence.
Contrast this with the pyschological brutality of Jesse James, remarkably portrayed by Brad Pitt. Jesse is like a gun. Every time he is around, you are reminded that things can go very bad. The film makers masterfully portray this mood and explore what it must have been like to have been someone like him, swept by events into the role of leader of a dangerous gang and his inability to deal with it or accomplish much without his brother.
There is a lot of confusing and archaic dialogue which I think lends to the authenticity of the film. Several film makers have tried this to varying degrees of success. Again, this takes a little concentration and would seem distracting to the viewer looking for a more typical western. It is a very difficult endeavor to move a viewer to a different time and most films are satisfied with using the cloths of a bygone era as mere backdrop. In this film, you feel the dust, the cold, the hunger and even the saddle sores of that time.
This film is disturbing. It doesn't entertain like the Wild Bunch, a classic itself. There are no "white hats" to associate with. There is a narrative in the film that says "theirs was a wandering existence" and so will yours as the viewer. The minute you start to like a character, he'll do something to remind you of his flawed character. And this is a story of flawed characters dealing with a subject bigger than themselves. The tragedy is that they are drawn to self-destructive behavior by the agrandizing stories that made them famous to the outside world.
The interesting irony to this film is that the critics who dislike the slow pace and complexity do have a spot in this film. The elaborate literature that draws Bob Ford to the life of an outlaw betrays him. The shoot'em up portrayals that so many like (as I do as well) are traps to those who do not understand that they are nothing more than self-absorption, pure egotistical fantasy where the hero wins in the end and evil is beaten. This film reminds you that these struggles are all internal and eternal. And that there is no guarrantee for a happy ending.
This film reminds me of All the Pretty Horses, The Unforgiven, and Ride with the Devil, although ATPH and RWTD follow a more formulaic hero tale.
 Dull June 7, 2009
P. Schumacher (atlanta, GA United States)
1 out of 5 found this review helpful
Like the equally tedious "Pearl Harbor," this movie wastes good actors and spectacular photography on a film that seems to take longer to watch than the historical events took to happen.
By the third hour, I had lapsed into a coma.
The writing is ornate (attempting to mimic the grandiloquent style of 19th Century America) but pointless.
Character-development is ham-handed and one-dimensional. Yes, Jesse James is mercurial and violent and (rarely) charming, but these qualities are never really dramatized, only suggested. And they are suggested over and over and over and . . . . Yes, Bob Ford is delusional and worshipful and possibly in love with James, but these qualities are never dramatized, only suggested over and over and over, by long shots of looking out windows, drooling over pistols, catfights of one-second dialogue.
Perhaps the director was attempting to become an artiste by actually conveying the long stretches of boredom of 19th Century rural American life--actually making us endure long stretches of boredom.
But this does not a good movie make. Or even an OK movie.
The gorgeous scenery is the only redeeming feature, and even this is only on sporadic view.
Pity to waste such talent on such emptiness.
Intelligent and Absorbing May 22, 2009
John Converse
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Everyone on this site, from five stars to one star, agrees that this movie is slowly paced. And that it is. But it's also a fascinating look at how a young wastrel's admiration for a ruthless killer turns to dismay and finally sheer self-defence. (That isn't a spoiler; the information is already in the title of the film.) Both Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck give excellent performances, too. Pitt sometimes gives you the feeling he's making it up as he goes along because he's so spontaneous. Affleck is weird, distracted, eager, worried, confused...a very rich performance. He really is the star of the film. Above all, the script is extremely literate, with wonderful regional and period idioms.
 Sloooooooowwwww.... May 18, 2009
Alan Starr (Lawrence, MA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
If you think the title is long, wait until you see the movie! This thing is slooooow, and at 2 hours 40 minutes long it seems like it goes on forever. Maybe I would have appreciated this more on a big screen - I watched it on my 17" laptop on an airplane, and it probably didn't do justice to Roger Deakin's amazing cinematography (he's the best in the business right now, bar none). Casey Affleck does a good job here as the coward, but I think he was stronger in 'Gone Baby Gone', which is also a better movie IMO.
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