I’m in mourning that I didn’t see this one in the theater. I meant to, but it’s long—over two hours—and it was always a battle between work to be done and babysitter time and an afternoon at the movies. Work won. But I wish, now, that I’d put whatever deadline I was on aside.
It is just gorgeously shot—not in Missouri, where it’s supposed to take place—but in Alberta, Canada. No matter. Beautiful, moody. Great music. Brad Pitt, whom I would love to disdain for being a Hollywood pretty boy (and let’s face it, he is), is fabulous. He’s Jesse James and we know, per the legend, that he’s temperamental, prone to outbursts, and violent—something that, not surprisingly, terrified those around him, even his “friends.” Pitt managed to make me feel as edgy as if I’d been in the room with him, or Jesse, enduring the discomfort. It’s an impressive performance.
There are a couple of small parts for big actors in this film, too. Mary Louse Parker as Z, Jesse’s wife, barely utters a word. Sam Shepard appears briefly as Frank, Jesse’s older brother. Nice performances, both of them. I love it when big actors take small parts—it’s this kind of detail, or rather fine-tuned addressing of the details, that can really elevate a film. A bit part, poorly performed, is like a mosquito buzzing in your ear.
I’m on the fence about Casey Affleck as Robert Ford. He’s so…creepy. I’m guessing that he’s meant to be—shifty-eyed, creaky voiced, fidgety. That this is part of who Ford was, or was supposed to be—an identity-less wannabe who, one way or another, was going to make his name via Jesse James. But he’s so convincingly creepy that I had a hard time watching him.
In fact, early in the movie, Frank James says something to him along the lines of: “I don’t know what it is, but the more you talk the more you give me the creeps.” (Um…yeah! Well said!) Then he aims a gun at him and prods him on his way. It would be a relief, except he doesn’t go away. He keeps creeping along.
This movie gave me a new fascination for Jesse James—a story we all know about, but I’m guessing few of us know in the details. And seeing the dynamic between him and Ford made me think of it as a paradigm for other assassinations, or attempts. I’m thinking particularly of John Hinckley, Jr., who tried to kill Ronald Reagan in order to get Jodi Foster’s attention, and Mark David Chapman, who seemed to both admire and hate John Lennon. What the incidents have in common--people who were angry at their own invisibility, in love and hate with a celebrity for being so…celebrated…and acts of violence that were supposed to re-sort the equation somehow. Oh, and probably some mental illness mixed in there, too.
It didn’t work in Chapman’s or Hinckley’s cases. And it didn’t work for Robert Ford—who, unlike the others, wasn’t charged as a criminal for what he did. It seems people were angry that Ford had the nerve to take down the legend Jesse James in such a mundane manner. And Ford paid an ironic price for it.
Definitely a good rental—but make sure you set aside the time to watch it all the way through. (We didn’t the first time—and ended up watching it again.) It’s moody, and watching it in pieces breaks the mood.
It is just gorgeously shot—not in Missouri, where it’s supposed to take place—but in Alberta, Canada. No matter. Beautiful, moody. Great music. Brad Pitt, whom I would love to disdain for being a Hollywood pretty boy (and let’s face it, he is), is fabulous. He’s Jesse James and we know, per the legend, that he’s temperamental, prone to outbursts, and violent—something that, not surprisingly, terrified those around him, even his “friends.” Pitt managed to make me feel as edgy as if I’d been in the room with him, or Jesse, enduring the discomfort. It’s an impressive performance.
There are a couple of small parts for big actors in this film, too. Mary Louse Parker as Z, Jesse’s wife, barely utters a word. Sam Shepard appears briefly as Frank, Jesse’s older brother. Nice performances, both of them. I love it when big actors take small parts—it’s this kind of detail, or rather fine-tuned addressing of the details, that can really elevate a film. A bit part, poorly performed, is like a mosquito buzzing in your ear.
I’m on the fence about Casey Affleck as Robert Ford. He’s so…creepy. I’m guessing that he’s meant to be—shifty-eyed, creaky voiced, fidgety. That this is part of who Ford was, or was supposed to be—an identity-less wannabe who, one way or another, was going to make his name via Jesse James. But he’s so convincingly creepy that I had a hard time watching him.
In fact, early in the movie, Frank James says something to him along the lines of: “I don’t know what it is, but the more you talk the more you give me the creeps.” (Um…yeah! Well said!) Then he aims a gun at him and prods him on his way. It would be a relief, except he doesn’t go away. He keeps creeping along.
This movie gave me a new fascination for Jesse James—a story we all know about, but I’m guessing few of us know in the details. And seeing the dynamic between him and Ford made me think of it as a paradigm for other assassinations, or attempts. I’m thinking particularly of John Hinckley, Jr., who tried to kill Ronald Reagan in order to get Jodi Foster’s attention, and Mark David Chapman, who seemed to both admire and hate John Lennon. What the incidents have in common--people who were angry at their own invisibility, in love and hate with a celebrity for being so…celebrated…and acts of violence that were supposed to re-sort the equation somehow. Oh, and probably some mental illness mixed in there, too.
It didn’t work in Chapman’s or Hinckley’s cases. And it didn’t work for Robert Ford—who, unlike the others, wasn’t charged as a criminal for what he did. It seems people were angry that Ford had the nerve to take down the legend Jesse James in such a mundane manner. And Ford paid an ironic price for it.
Definitely a good rental—but make sure you set aside the time to watch it all the way through. (We didn’t the first time—and ended up watching it again.) It’s moody, and watching it in pieces breaks the mood.
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