Full Movie Reviews
Rating of
3/4
Longest movie title ever.
Matthew Brady - wrote on 10/01/2014
Jesse James: "I guess I'll take my guns off... for fear the neighbors might spy them".
The movie takes place in 1881 a younger member of the notorious James gang becomes so inextricably drawn to and frightened of his mentor that his own delusions of grandeur force him to consider doing the unthinkable.
This has to be the longest movie title ever, they might be other movies with long titles but this one takes the cake. Casey Affleck and Brad Pitt worked did a fantastic job in the movie, and they back and forward with each other was pure brilliant. The cinematography was gorgeous to look at and the directing is simply spellbinding. The movie does slow down at times and i'm not giving it the perfect rating, because I thought the movie was well done, but it's not "the best movie ever …
Rating of
4/4
"The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward.."
Yojimbo - wrote on 04/05/2012
The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford is a bit of a mouthful, but it's titled perfectly. The script is extremely literary and the title is deeply ironic and highlights the fact that real life bears little resemblance to the simplistic interpretation of events that "legends" present. In fact it was Ford's disillusionment in his dealings with the man compared to his childhood hero worship that probably contributed greatly to the resulting killing; that and his own wish to be revered as a "hero" himself. The cinematography is simply beautiful, the film resembling a period photograph come to life. The train robbery scene is one of the most visually stunning pieces of cinema I've ever seen. The performances are also top notch, particularly Brad Pitt whose intense and …
Rating of
3/4
The Assassination of Jesse James review
Daniel Corleone - wrote on 12/08/2011
The story of Jesse James (Pitt) and his accomplices Dick Liddil (Paul Schneider), cousin Wood Hite (Jeremy Renner), Bob Ford (Affleck) and Charley's (Sam Rockwell). After the murder of Jesse James, the Ford brothers became popular. Bob would play himself, and Charley as Jesse James. Bob would be labeled as a coward. Charley commits suicide while Bob revealed his reason for murdering James. Topics involving regret, idolatry, friendship and identity were present. This could have been a great film if only Affleck spoke clearly and if the editing were better since it ran too long due to unnecessary camera shots that don’t connect to the story. Some epics are long but because of the way it was presented one can never mind its length such as Gandhi, Ben-Hur, Lawrence of Arabia, …
Rating of
2/4
Unrealized Potential
Franz Patrick - wrote on 07/25/2008
I heard a lot about how good this film was but I was less than impressed. I thought it was ridiculously long, especially for a movie that likes to take its time when it comes to telling the story. I did enjoy the fine performances from Casey Affleck and Brad Pitt, but other than that, I don't see anything special that this film has to offer. I think if Affleck and Pitt's characters had more scenes where they interacted, this would have been a better film. Whenever those two are talking to each other and dealing with many implications, the screen ignites due to the underlying tension. I also thought that the male-male jokes were too distracting even though they were funny at times. Lastly, I feel like that the filmmakers had a chance to do something grand, but instead they made something …
Rating of
3/4
Action genre? Hardly, but that's ok
patjohnson76 - wrote on 04/27/2008
Those looking for an action packed Jesse James story need to keep looking, as this film examines the period that Robert Ford came into James' life, which happened toward the end of James' criminal career and life. Casey Affleck stands out as Ford, a man wanting to become something important. Pitt does an interesting take on James, as he shows Pitt's paranoia. The film implies some things that I don't know are historically accurate, such as James seemingly accepting his fate and letting Ford shoot him, and how Ford's assassin was viewed a hero (the ending voiceover makes no mention how Ford's assassin himself was killed). Beautifully shot, good acting, but there is A LOT of talking and this is mostly a character study. As long as you know what you're getting into you should be able …
Rating of
2.5/4
Story lacks the whole essence of Jesse James
BryanFury - wrote on 02/28/2008
Modern day viewers would not be as enthusiastic to see such a very lengthy movie like this. From the title alone you could almost tell how everything's going to end. Well duh, Jesse James is gonna die of course. Seems unreal though that he would just turn his back on the one person he can't trust. Not only that he knew from the very beginning what those phonies were thinking. He knew every move and every detail like he was one step ahead. But then little did he know all is going to end with a smudge of dust on a painting. A poetic way to go, of course not but everyone's seemed to care how the outlaw got assassinated. Two things I would like to mention, first is the cinematography and second is Casey Affleck. The two things or rather the corner stones that build up this monumental film. …
Rating of
3/4
An opportunity missed.
FZero - wrote on 02/19/2008
This is one of those movies you watch and know it could have been something special. Always on the brink of greatness but never quite reaching that pinnacle. A good editor could have sliced half-an-hour off the runtime by eliminating some of the otiose plot threads with characters we didn't really care about. A tighter movie with more focus given where it belonged, on the main characters, would have been magnificent. All that being said, the cinematography was beautiful, the nature shots and the use of light whether it was from the sun or train headlights was stunning. Casey Affleck gives a career defining performance and catapults himself into a select list of actors we should all watch out for. It's a shame the flaws weren't recognized and corrected.
Rating of
3/4
Solid Performances Despite Length
Alex - wrote on 10/14/2007
Going into "Jesse James" I was expecting a lot. I have had my eye on this movie since I first saw Brad Pitt attached to it. Since he was from Missouri and so was James, I figured it had to be good. What I really wanted was a solid, action packed, bad ass western. I did not receive that.
What I did get though was still a solid movie. It was very slow moving with good cinematography and an above average musical score. I learned a lot about Jesse James and his final days and it made me understand his character more. Brad Pitt was virtually perfect as Jesse James and Casey Affleck was possibly better, showing up his brother in every scene. Sam Rockwell also does a great job as always. So, needless to say performances are incredible.
The direction of the movie is well done and …
