In what has to be on of the longest titles for a movie ever made, this movie is superior to anything that came out in the last few years. I am willing to even say that this movie is 100 times better than The Dark Knight. Yet no one saw this one…at least not on a grand scale.

I haven’t read the book, but this movie is an adaptation of the book, and I’m surprised it is so heavy in both texture, film quality, and acting abilities. Casey Affleck plays a perfect Robert Ford. He plays the role with a real sense of anxiety that you can’t just capture from most actors. He actually looks and feels trepidation throughout the whole film, as he knows that he’s going to end up killing Jesse James.

Jesse James is played by none other than Brad Pitt, and it’s sad that one of his finest performances on film is quieted by the media because of who he’s sleeping with.

This film is lovely to look at, and it was even nominated for an Academy Award for best cinematography. This film is amazing in its presence, and it uses every piece of its 30 Million Dollar budget to do so. That’s right, 30 MILLION DOLLARS not three times that much, not epic in budget, but yet a great piece of visual art.

Casey Affleck was nominated for best supporting actor in this film, and I would have given him the Oscar. Although Javier Bardem’s role in “No Country For Old Men” is nothing to shrug at, I do not think that Affleck should have lost.

The movie revolves around the storyline of Jesse James, a dramatized characterization of the real outlaw, and his “apprentice” of sorts Robert Ford. Ford seems to move from lackey to right hand man, and through the course of this long movie, he transitions from a lot of different positions to even sit with Ford at his house for dinner, even meeting his kids and wife, becoming a true friend, before he takes James’ life.

The movie is 3 hours long. It’s epic. To try and summarize it into a blog post is really hard, because there are so many layers to this film.

What I found great about this film was the fact that the idea of celebrity and hero worship is addressed throughout the film. The movie debunks the myths and hero worship of Jesse James quite nicely, but without telling you straight out that they are doing that. It’s an underlying presence throughout the conversations, mannerisms, and long cinematography that really whispers the notion to you while viewing. So much of this film seems like a dream or a whisper to your subconscious, even if you’re dense when it comes to metaphor, foreshadowing and other elements of storytelling.

Here is a trailer for The Assassination of Jesse James by The Coward Robert Ford:

There are parallels that can be drawn between this film and the life of Jesus Christ. That’s right, this story plays out like Jesus Christ in a lot of ways. We’re talking about the friendships that are formed, the worship of the icon, and ultimately the betrayal by one of his closest friends. I do not mean to draw lines between the two without merit, and if you see the movie you can see what I mean, or you can try to compare it to other films that have the same sort of betrayal element to them. I, being a man of faith, see both stories following similar routes for different times and reasons.

I highly recommend seeing this film. This movie is a great one, and really does a fine job of portraying this epic western story without over complicating it at the end, and with such a fine dedication to art and acting above cheap thrills, bells and whistles. This ranks high for all involved and I have to say it’s the best period piece that Brad Pitt has done since “Legends of the Fall”, another favorite of mine. If you have yet to see this film, you’re definitely missing out on the best film of last year. I think this one, even at 3 hours in time, is a grand example of how great film can be, when drawn out into an art form and not just a plight of entertainment.

I seriously can not recommend this movie any more highly. I really felt that “No Country For Old Men” and “There Will Be Blood” were incredible pieces of film, although somewhat over rated, and this one was just overlooked. It makes me wonder if people just don’t watch good movies, and just resort to watching pieces of crap like “Date Movie” or “Meet The Spartans” which both got #1 in the box office upon release.

To be fair, this movie can be seen as slow and tiresome. However, I promise that the climax of the initial investment is glorious. In fact, if you were to strip away all the parts of this films build and only show the closing moments, dialogue, and response to this film, you will have an Oscar worthy contender for best short film ever made. I would rank this film in my top 5 films of all time. The Assassination of Jesse James by The Coward Robert Ford is an amazing film. But then again, that’s just me, a guy that thinks his finest moments were spent behind a retail video store rental counter.