One of the greatest films of all time
Added 11/11/2009
I avoided this film when it came out because I couldn't believe Casey Affleck was an actor to watch. Well, I am proud to be eating humble pie and admitting that he is a tremendous talent along with director Andrew Dominick, Brad Pitt, Sam Rockwell, Paul Schneider, Sam Shepherd, Allison Elliot, Garrett Dillahunt and the rest of the cast.
Many have complained that the film is slow and it is, but it's a beautiful meditative slow, where every frame is like a gorgeous photograph. And they are, since they were shot by Roger Deakins probably the best cinematographer alive. The music is haunting and evocative. The dialogue is poetic and of the era. Very rare for this day and age. Heck for any age. It's not a shoot'em up and anyone who needs that fix when they watch a film, well, stick with Tranformers. This is a film about real people in real life situations where the moral isn't about winning or getting the girl but the price of fame and the caprice of the public. I'd say the movie almost bears comparison to The Godfather with The King of Comedy mixed in. The sense of dread and loss the director and editors created was awesome. It's just powerful.
It was overshadowed by both No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood when it came out in 2007. But I think it's the superior of the three. It's definitely one of the best films I've ever seen.
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Pace - Is it a Friend or Foe?
Added 11/7/2009
Ford - a name associated with the last days of Jesse James and the stuff of many a hateful ballad. Why? Because Ford was once hailed as a hero when he pushed a bullet into the skull of Jesse James, only to be later labelled a coward because of many an aspect. First there was the way that Jesse died - a bullet to the back of the head - and the way the media sought to portray the outlaw. Much like many of the people in his day, the outlaw had become bigger than life and, though a killer amongst other things, he was - as the film points out - looked at with the same wonder that one would show the wonders of the world. Second, Jesse still had a following in the states that felt that they should have fought on in the Civil War. Added to that was the fact that Pinkertons raided the family farmhouse and cost his mother an arm, that he was constantly hounded and the price seemed to go skyward as he slipped noose after noose, and that he had a proclivity for killing "old friends" that he saw as threats and you had a legend. When this legend died at the hands of robert Ford, a seeming piece of backdrop on Jesse Jame's stage, and you had yourself a tale rife with villiany. Never ind the deeds of his past - he was an icon. so much so, in fact, that Ford's killer was - as the movie again pointed out - pardoned for the crime after serving only a dose of his lifelong sentence.
It seemed like someone like Robert Ford was not good enough to kill someone like Jesse in the eyes of the public.
The movie picks up in the brittle places where Jesse and death are closing in on one another, and it seems as though Jesse knows what is coming. It takes us through the struggles that Jesse has in maintaining the mask of sanity that barely fit him to begin with, showing us the actions of a person who almost seemed to have a deathwish. It also throws in the players in this dance that sets around the man, with Jesse finding himself listening to rumors and fearing even those closest to him. enter the deaths of many of the people he rode with, and the two Fords that would ultimately bring about his demise.
What i liked about this movie was the fact that Robert ford was not ignored in this movie (although the portrayal of Jesse was hard to stop watching), and that he wasn't classified as a simpleton or some sort of screw-up. He was simply a person doing what he thought was right, and that was emulating the person he looked up to most in the world. The problem was that this person, Jesse, wronged him in ways both subtle and in crowds, and he and Charlie Ford began noticing what was happening all around them. Robert wanted to be as big as Jesse, but he also wanted to live long enough to see past his 21st birthday. On that death day, the things played out in a way that made me wonder if Jesse didn't want to have a gunfight in a house filled with his family, or if he was just tired and he kind of liked the kid that he picked on. Granted, this was a movie and answers seldom come from movies, but this thing was something I liked when I watched it.
If you are loking for gunfighting and a lot of action, then look for another Jesse James movie. This is the last days of Jesse and is focused on Robert Ford, not the James Gang. This means that you have a lot of thought and wonderment, a lot of disappointment and fear, and a lot of disillusionment when the world didn't applaud his last move. It is a great piece historically speaking, however, even if there are errors here and there. I personally think that it is watchable for crowds of people that know what they are in for - a character-piece that is slowly driven and that gives you a lot of each person in the film. It was different, too, and the artistic way it danced made me like it AFTEr i saw it more than once.
Recommended - but with a cautionary motion to say that the film is either great or boring for its viewer.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Western Noir
Added 11/4/2009
Well acted, thoughtfully directed noirish western. Brad Pitt turns in yet another acting masterclass as the titular hero while Casey Affleck gives a convincing though at times undynamic performance as weakness personified Tom Ford, a man cut from a very different cloth to the strong, windswept Jesse James. Despite its occasionally sluggish tempo, this is a taut psychological thriller that retains a grip-like vice until the end. It's also a poignant statement about the quest for celebritydom. Watch out for a cameo by Nick Cave as a bar-room entertainer. Full marks for Mary-Louise Parker's supporting performance as Jesse James's wife. Sam Rockwell, as Tom Ford's more morally solvent brother Charlie, does a less manic version of cowboy persona we remember from Green Mile.
Some people may question history's romantification of Jesse James - a man who by all accounts was a total nightmare.
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Most Disappointing
Added 9/27/2009
This has got to be the most boring Jesse James movie ever made. Even with the likes of Brad Pitt and Sam Shephard, it just doesn't cut it. Pitt is brilliant as "bad guy" Jesse James, but his amazing performance is not enough to make this movie worth watching. Shephard is conspicuously absent from most of the movie, which moves so slowly I had to watch in three sittings. I confess I would have scrapped it entirely after the first attempt if I hadn't recently canceled my satellite tv service. If you pay $18 for this movie, you will most likely be disappointed, too.
0 out of 1 people found this helpful.
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Watched Over 20 Times!!
Added 9/18/2009
My boyfriend and i have watched this movie over 20 times and it still never gets dull. It is a wonderful portral of Jesse James life. I'm distanly related to this man, i know everyone gasp i'm related to someone who has done some terrible things in history. But I think that this movie really showed how he cared for his family and friends and i think it did him justice. I think that Brad Pitt was the perfect person for this roll and would say the same for Casey Affleck for Robert Ford. Can't get enough of this movie. Perfect for history buffs and jesse james fans alike.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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One of the greatest films of all time
Added 11/11/2009
I avoided this film when it came out because I couldn't believe Casey Affleck was an actor to watch. Well, I am proud to be eating humble pie and admitting that he is a tremendous talent along with director Andrew Dominick, Brad Pitt, Sam Rockwell, Paul Schneider, Sam Shepherd, Allison Elliot, Garrett Dillahunt and the rest of the cast.
Many have complained that the film is slow and it is, but it's a beautiful meditative slow, where every frame is like a gorgeous photograph. And they are, since they were shot by Roger Deakins probably the best cinematographer alive. The music is haunting and evocative. The dialogue is poetic and of the era. Very rare for this day and age. Heck for any age. It's not a shoot'em up and anyone who needs that fix when they watch a film, well, stick with Tranformers. This is a film about real people in real life situations where the moral isn't about winning or getting the girl but the price of fame and the caprice of the public. I'd say the movie almost bears comparison to The Godfather with The King of Comedy mixed in. The sense of dread and loss the director and editors created was awesome. It's just powerful.
It was overshadowed by both No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood when it came out in 2007. But I think it's the superior of the three. It's definitely one of the best films I've ever seen.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
|
Pace - Is it a Friend or Foe?
Added 11/7/2009
Ford - a name associated with the last days of Jesse James and the stuff of many a hateful ballad. Why? Because Ford was once hailed as a hero when he pushed a bullet into the skull of Jesse James, only to be later labelled a coward because of many an aspect. First there was the way that Jesse died - a bullet to the back of the head - and the way the media sought to portray the outlaw. Much like many of the people in his day, the outlaw had become bigger than life and, though a killer amongst other things, he was - as the film points out - looked at with the same wonder that one would show the wonders of the world. Second, Jesse still had a following in the states that felt that they should have fought on in the Civil War. Added to that was the fact that Pinkertons raided the family farmhouse and cost his mother an arm, that he was constantly hounded and the price seemed to go skyward as he slipped noose after noose, and that he had a proclivity for killing "old friends" that he saw as threats and you had a legend. When this legend died at the hands of robert Ford, a seeming piece of backdrop on Jesse Jame's stage, and you had yourself a tale rife with villiany. Never ind the deeds of his past - he was an icon. so much so, in fact, that Ford's killer was - as the movie again pointed out - pardoned for the crime after serving only a dose of his lifelong sentence.
It seemed like someone like Robert Ford was not good enough to kill someone like Jesse in the eyes of the public.
The movie picks up in the brittle places where Jesse and death are closing in on one another, and it seems as though Jesse knows what is coming. It takes us through the struggles that Jesse has in maintaining the mask of sanity that barely fit him to begin with, showing us the actions of a person who almost seemed to have a deathwish. It also throws in the players in this dance that sets around the man, with Jesse finding himself listening to rumors and fearing even those closest to him. enter the deaths of many of the people he rode with, and the two Fords that would ultimately bring about his demise.
What i liked about this movie was the fact that Robert ford was not ignored in this movie (although the portrayal of Jesse was hard to stop watching), and that he wasn't classified as a simpleton or some sort of screw-up. He was simply a person doing what he thought was right, and that was emulating the person he looked up to most in the world. The problem was that this person, Jesse, wronged him in ways both subtle and in crowds, and he and Charlie Ford began noticing what was happening all around them. Robert wanted to be as big as Jesse, but he also wanted to live long enough to see past his 21st birthday. On that death day, the things played out in a way that made me wonder if Jesse didn't want to have a gunfight in a house filled with his family, or if he was just tired and he kind of liked the kid that he picked on. Granted, this was a movie and answers seldom come from movies, but this thing was something I liked when I watched it.
If you are loking for gunfighting and a lot of action, then look for another Jesse James movie. This is the last days of Jesse and is focused on Robert Ford, not the James Gang. This means that you have a lot of thought and wonderment, a lot of disappointment and fear, and a lot of disillusionment when the world didn't applaud his last move. It is a great piece historically speaking, however, even if there are errors here and there. I personally think that it is watchable for crowds of people that know what they are in for - a character-piece that is slowly driven and that gives you a lot of each person in the film. It was different, too, and the artistic way it danced made me like it AFTEr i saw it more than once.
Recommended - but with a cautionary motion to say that the film is either great or boring for its viewer.
1 out of 1 people found this helpful.
|
Western Noir
Added 11/4/2009
Well acted, thoughtfully directed noirish western. Brad Pitt turns in yet another acting masterclass as the titular hero while Casey Affleck gives a convincing though at times undynamic performance as weakness personified Tom Ford, a man cut from a very different cloth to the strong, windswept Jesse James. Despite its occasionally sluggish tempo, this is a taut psychological thriller that retains a grip-like vice until the end. It's also a poignant statement about the quest for celebritydom. Watch out for a cameo by Nick Cave as a bar-room entertainer. Full marks for Mary-Louise Parker's supporting performance as Jesse James's wife. Sam Rockwell, as Tom Ford's more morally solvent brother Charlie, does a less manic version of cowboy persona we remember from Green Mile.
Some people may question history's romantification of Jesse James - a man who by all accounts was a total nightmare.
0 out of 0 people found this helpful.
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