The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford

I used to talk a lot o’ shit about Brad Pitt. “No-talent” this, “Pretty-boy-gettin’-by-on-his-looks” that.

This was before I saw 12 Monkeys and watched him get nominated or an Oscar, applauding for him all the way. That boy can act. Oh yeah, he can really burn. He is perfect as Jesse James and so is Sam Shepard as his grumpy older bro, Frank.

But major kudos go to Casey Affleck who plays Robert ford, the mixed-up, yellow-bellied yungin’ that ends up killing the American folk anti-hero of the film’s title.

Mr. Affleck (Casey, not Ben) is establishing himself as a top-notch actor and it’s good to see him finally get a feature role to bite on like “chaw” in the jaw. He makes the psychological study of a complex character like Bob Ford engaging to watch. It would be a shame if he didn’t receive a Best Actor or Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination. Also worthy of mention is Sam Rockwell (awesome as usual) as Bob Ford’s simpleton brother and Mary-Louise Parker as Jessie’s soon-to-be widow.

Poetic narration & fantastic cinematography frame the excellent performances of this well casted film, a must for all western addicts and aficionados of period dramas. It has a pacing that’s laid back like life in the 1800’s - so if you want a “shoot-em-up”, go see 3:10 To Yuma. Y’hear?