The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
Warner : Drama : 2.35:1 : AC3 5.1 : Rated MA15+ : DVD-9 : PAL : 2007 : 153 mins
The Film
Andrew Dominik's follow up to Chopper is a lyrical, daring take on the western. It follows the last days of the Jame's gang, a rag-tag bunch of no-hopers lead by Jesse (Brad Pitt) and Frank (Sam Shepard). They take on a newcomer, Robert Ford (Casey Affleck), who slowly goes from hero worshiping fan to obsessed stalker to disillusioned psychopath across the passage of the film, and Affleck's performance is haunting and convincing. Pitt and Dominik's portrayal of Jesse James as gentleman killer is strong and anchor's the film against Affleck's Ford.
While the film has the trappings of the traditional western, The Assassination of Jesse James (as it was known in markets with shorter attention spans) shares more in common with Sam Pekinpah's Patt Garrett and Billy The Kid that it does with any of John Ford's work. This is a film makers film - carefully constructed, deliberately paced and visually stunning. Even the score, provided by Nick Cave, is off-kilter yet fitting. Roger Deakins, best know for his work with the Coen Brothers, picked up his second Oscar nomination for 2007 (the other being for No Country For Old Men) for his incredible work here, and it is well deserved.
This is not a film to watch if you want a fast paced actioner or something to fill a quick 90 minutes. At almost 3 hours it requires some input from the viewer. However the viewer that is willing to put in a little effort is richly rewarded. My only complaint is that there is obviously quite a lot of footage and story missing, especially in the latter parts of the film, that does lead to characters appearing that obviously have more back story that we have not been made privy to. Given Andrew Dominik wrestled with the editing of this film for over 12 months, and had an original cut of some four hours, this is not surprising.
The DVD
Disappointing first release of this film, with a bare bones 16:9, 5.1 AC3 DVD 9. No features, no commentary. Yes, as is to be expected from major studio releases this is a pristine print, but so it should be. With the long edit time there is surely a Director's cut in the offing, and a commentay from Dominik, Deakins, Pitt and Affleck (in any combination) would be well worth a listen. However given the disappointing box office I won't be holding my breath.
Film : 4.5/5 DVD : 1/5 (This film deserves a Special Edition with a Director's Cut and commentaries at the very least. C'mon Warner Bros.)
The Film
Andrew Dominik's follow up to Chopper is a lyrical, daring take on the western. It follows the last days of the Jame's gang, a rag-tag bunch of no-hopers lead by Jesse (Brad Pitt) and Frank (Sam Shepard). They take on a newcomer, Robert Ford (Casey Affleck), who slowly goes from hero worshiping fan to obsessed stalker to disillusioned psychopath across the passage of the film, and Affleck's performance is haunting and convincing. Pitt and Dominik's portrayal of Jesse James as gentleman killer is strong and anchor's the film against Affleck's Ford.
While the film has the trappings of the traditional western, The Assassination of Jesse James (as it was known in markets with shorter attention spans) shares more in common with Sam Pekinpah's Patt Garrett and Billy The Kid that it does with any of John Ford's work. This is a film makers film - carefully constructed, deliberately paced and visually stunning. Even the score, provided by Nick Cave, is off-kilter yet fitting. Roger Deakins, best know for his work with the Coen Brothers, picked up his second Oscar nomination for 2007 (the other being for No Country For Old Men) for his incredible work here, and it is well deserved.
This is not a film to watch if you want a fast paced actioner or something to fill a quick 90 minutes. At almost 3 hours it requires some input from the viewer. However the viewer that is willing to put in a little effort is richly rewarded. My only complaint is that there is obviously quite a lot of footage and story missing, especially in the latter parts of the film, that does lead to characters appearing that obviously have more back story that we have not been made privy to. Given Andrew Dominik wrestled with the editing of this film for over 12 months, and had an original cut of some four hours, this is not surprising.
The DVD
Disappointing first release of this film, with a bare bones 16:9, 5.1 AC3 DVD 9. No features, no commentary. Yes, as is to be expected from major studio releases this is a pristine print, but so it should be. With the long edit time there is surely a Director's cut in the offing, and a commentay from Dominik, Deakins, Pitt and Affleck (in any combination) would be well worth a listen. However given the disappointing box office I won't be holding my breath.
Film : 4.5/5 DVD : 1/5 (This film deserves a Special Edition with a Director's Cut and commentaries at the very least. C'mon Warner Bros.)
posted by Gunslinger at 19:25
0 comments
