Review: The Assasination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
November 7, 2007 Film Diaries - Andrew, Reviews, Film Diaries - Libby, Dramas, Westerns 1 Comment
2007
Director: Andrew Dominik
Viewed: November 6, 2007
Format: Theatrical Print
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford opens with the tattered remnants of the James gang preparing for and committing their final train robbery. It’s a marvelous sequence, even spooky at times, and serves to introduce us to both of the titular characters. Despite the bloody violence that unfolds when the train is boarded and ransacked, the sequence stands apart from the rest of the film. Sudden acts of brutality punctuate the remaining story, but none can be regarded as standard action sequences. Instead, The Assassination makes much of tension of imminent violence, signaling its approach with its spoiler title. It is about knowing that something traumatic and transformative is going to happen, but not the when or where or how. In this the film echoes the themes of every ambitious Western that ruminates on industrialization, expansion, and destiny, Manifest or otherwise.
