The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is a title that says just what it does on the tin. Set during the old west, we see the real-life outlaw, Jesse James (Brad Pitt), plan a robbery while hunting down old members of his gang before he is assassinated by Robert Ford (Casey Affleck). Oh and spoiler alert!

Despite the simple premise, Andrew Dominik manages to successfully craft a deep western with a strong focus towards his characters over the familiar themes we expect from the genre, creating a tense and intriguing drama. I first saw this not long after it was released in 2007 and was probably too young to appreciate much of what was going on but upon revisiting, this is one great, underrated film.

The western genre saw its heyday during the 1930s through until the early 1960s when America's attitude started to change with the Vietnam war. After this, the genre became darker with a bleaker outlook on things but still managed to produce many fine films. However, that could not prevent the downfall in the genre as fewer and fewer westerns were released due to poor box office returns. It's hard to imagine but there was a time when they were all the big thing, like the YA films we see today.

This century we've seen a couple of attempts at variations on the genre, most notably the fantastic No Country For Old Men and the brilliant There Will Be Blood, with both taking the hard-edged approach from the revisionist westerns of the 1960s and 70s. Others worth mentioning include Open Range, 3:10 to Yuma and the Coen brothers' True Grit. The Assassination of Jesse James... continues this trend and avoids any attempt at glamorising the genre. We have gun slingers, train robberies and the American outdoors, all beautifully shot through Roger Deakins' lens but this is ultimately a quiet, thinking-man's film despite what the Hollywood trailers suggest.

While being placed in the supporting role (and receiving the supporting Oscar nod), Casey Affleck is at the centre of the story and he carries the film perfectly as the rather rather odd Robert Ford. His meeting with Jesse over dinner is quietly unnerving, tense and somehow tragic as we learn of how he idealises the outlaw. Meanwhile, Brad Pitt neatly captures the frantic mind of Jesse in his final few months where his personality changes at the drop of a hat.

Andrew Dominik's slow and thoughtful approach will not be to everyone's liking, and with a 159-minute running-time, I can only recommend this to those with an interest in the story. If you do choose to watch this, try and catch it late in the evening as I did and let the story pull you in because it is worth it.