Cheap Cds - The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford [2007]

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Customer Rating:

Summary: The closer to Caesar the greater the danger
Comment: I am biased. I like Westerns more than any other type of film. Cant get enough of them. It drives my
family mad. But it is an innocent hobby and I have not had to seek therapy yet. So has this time
watching hours and hours of Westerns since I was a small child been of the tiniest use. Well I like
to think so. In my modest way I feel I am actually qualified to give an informed opinion on them
now. Which brings me to this film. Is it a good Western. Well yes I think it is. Certainly the best
for a long time. Lets not go overboard here. It is not up there with "The Wild Bunch" the "The
Searchers" or the unheralded "The Grey Fox" that starred the late great Richard Farnsworth, but it
is a very good film and I applaud the director for his efforts.
The recent Western "3.10 to
Yuma" was fun. It lost a bit of street cred with Christian Bales one legged hero who should have
represented China in the Olympic gymnastics competition. Yes fun but not serious competition. Oh and
then there was "Seraphim Falls". Again a good effort but marred by that bizarre ending. Is there
anybody out there who can tell me what it was all about? No competition there either. "The Missing"
was a better effort but marred with the silly sorcery bit. No this film stands above the other
recent Westerns.
Why do I like it. Well I am also biased towards good cinematography and this
film has that in abundance. It is beautifully shot. I like the way the film examines life within the
outlaw fraternity. Jesse James in real life was a thug and a cold blooded killer, and that is how
Brad Pitt portrays him. Warts and all. As is often the case in these gangs, then and now, it is
survival of the fittest and the individual who commands most fear often rules. It is this fear that
is so well conveyed. The cold blooded murder from behind of one of Jesses cohorts and the
inevitability of it all has a truthful ring to it. Casey Afflecks Robert Ford also rings true. I
love the scene where he is caught like the naughty schoolboy with all his Jesse James clippings. A
real anorak if ever there was. The brief gunfights are spot on with one man diving out the window
and others missing again and again from close range. Thats how it really was. Messy and nasty. Just
like the gang. Pitt is actually good in the role which was a pleasant surprise and Casey Affleck
deserved the plaudits he received. I would like to have seen more of Sam Shepherd who I never tire
of.
The film itself bears more than a passing resemblence to some mafia/gangster films where
psychopathic killers rule the roost. "The Departed" springs to mind. The quote "the closer to Caesar
the greater the danger" has resonance.
Do not go to this film with the expectation of action
packed fun. As you will have surmised that just does not happen, and it is all the better for that.
It has a strange,brooding menace about it. You know the ending much like "Death in Venice", so it is
all credit to the director to make a good film out of the material. The first good film about the
brothers. Sorry Tyrone Power and Henry Fonda if you are up there watching me type this. I found the
length of the film was not a problem. Quality goes the distance. A good addition to the collection
of any serious cinema goer.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Mixed feelings
Comment: One of those DVD's requiring that one must be "in the mood for history" to enjoy it. Not
entertaining, yet compelling with a sad and unexpected ending. However, it conveys a sinister, but
realistic dimension of Americanism => the power of sensasionalist press coverage and how easily
American public perception is swayed by reporting. Tragically, it seems that following his death,
no-one cared that James had been a cold-blooded criminal => instead Ford was turned into an outcast!
One wonders how history (as dictated by the press) would have treated Robert Ford differently had he
killed Jesse James in a shoot-out. Perhaps Ford would have been a hero?
My advice => unless
one is a student of American history, read about Jesse James on Wikipedia before watching this DVD.

Customer Rating:

Summary: BORING!!!!
Comment: Okay i admit it, i only saw the first hour and that is the first time that i walked out of a cinema
before the end of the film, i felt like asking for my money back.

It was the most
boring hour of my life, even the train robbery was dull.

I was hoping for a western as
engaing as Unforgiven or Dances with wolves, but nothing about this film held my interest, boring
characters, a slow story and such a dreary look.

Customer Rating:

Summary: i dont get it.....
Comment: ok the acting from a couple of the characters (one being casey affleck) was very good, and its not
the film i was disappointed at, it was the story line. i mean WTF?, i dont know what it was trying
to do but it came across that the film was making out this jesse james to be a dangerous,
unforgiving and one of america's most notorious outlaws. Whether that was to make you hate
him/respect him i dont know but i was going for hate him, it even says in the film he murdered over
17 people and led numerous robberies on banks and trains threatening and assualting i dont know how
many people. Then the person who finally kills him is hated and sent death threats because of it,
and we're made to try and feel sorry for jesse james like he was some great hero....All i can say is
is that the civil war must have had some Severe side effects on the people of america...i hope this
is a very bad retelling of the whole story because if it isnt the whole legend of jesse james is an
absolute joke in my opinion

Customer Rating:

Summary: Disappointing
Comment: Maybe I was expecting too much after the rave reviews.

But I did not enjoy this
film.

This is mainly because there are no characters that you can really warm to, so
you don't really care when anything happens to them!

Having said that, the direction
and acting are extremely good...

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