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The Review - AT THE MOVIES with WILLIAM HALL
Published:29 November 2007

Brad boy of the Wild West upstaged by kid

THE ASSASINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD
Directed by Andrew Dominik
Certificate 15

FROM the riveting opening sequence, it is apparent that director Andrew Dominik has one aim in mind: to make this Western feel so real it hurts. We are straight in among the infamous James gang of unshaven renegades amid the woods of Missouri, circa 1881, as they tool up for another train robbery.
Thanks to the mesmerising photography of Roger Deakins, we are drawn into every frame, from lyrical snowy landscapes and endless prairies to a close-up of a gang member putting his ear to the rail to hear the first ominous vibration of the approaching locomotive.
From that moment Jesse James (Brad Pitt) will become the most notorious Western outlaw in history, wanted in a dozen states with a huge price on his head. Now he is wondering who he can trust.
His mistake is to allow an obsessed teenager named Bob Ford (Casey Affleck) into his inner circle – with fatal results as the title suggests, when Ford will shoot him in the back in a betrayal that has all the elements of a Shakespearian tragedy. Et tu, Robert?
Pitt himself dominates the screen, sporting a black Homburg, natty waistcoat and watch-chain over his gunbelt, with an unnerving stare as he faces down his opponents. He won the Best Actor award at Venice this year – possibly helped by the fact that he turned up with Angelina Jolie on his arm, thus ensuring maximum worldwide publicity for the festival.
In fact, it is Affleck who is quicker on the draw, taking the acting honours with a subtle portrayal of the kid whose initial hero-worship turns to hatred.
There are some powerful sequences, but just too many interminable silences and meaningful looks.
Be prepared for a long, hard ride. After 160 minutes, I’m so saddle sore I won’t be able to sit down for a week.

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