Wednesday, December 14, 2016

Western Wednesday: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)

Taking a break from the usual classic Westerns like The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, The Big Trail, and True Grit, today's film is a much more recent Western. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford was released in 2007, and unlike many modern Westerns, it isn't half bad. Since it's a bit of a lesser known title, and I do recommend checking it out, I won't give away much about the plot in this review. 

The film has a pretty strong cast consisting of Brad Pitt as Jesse James, Casey Affleck as Robert Ford, and Sam Rockwell as Charley Ford just to name a few. The performances are strong throughout, particularly Brad Pitt. The narration, cinematography and music all work in concert to give this one a sort of low-key and intimate tone as opposed to the grand, gunslinger, wild west type of film typically associated with the genre. For a movie with a runtime a little over 2 1/2 hrs it's fairly well paced, but there are a couple scenes that drag on a bit and probably could've been cut down without damaging the final product.

Overall, I don't think this one will ever be regarded as one of history's great Westerns but, if you're a fan of the genre it's worth adding to your DVD or Blu-ray collection.
 I give it a 3.5 out of 5.


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...and be sure to check back every Wednesday for another Western

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