The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (DVD)

The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) starring Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck, Mary-Louise Parker, Sam Rockwell, Sam Shepard, Zooey Deschanel. The title pretty much tells the whole story of the movie. Jesse James is played by Brad Pitt, and Robert Ford is played by Casey Affleck. Initially an admirer of James, Ford tries to join his gang for a train job. Somehow, over the course of the two-and-a-half-hour film, Ford grows to resent and fear James, and ends up shooting him in the back out of fear and for the reward money. There's plenty of material here to make an exciting and tense Western, but the movie meanders over the long middle section, concentrating on secondary characters and failing to really explore the character of Robert Ford. Grade: B-