Film Review: 'Jesse James' not your typical Western (and the title is too long)
Not only is the title too darn long, it also gives away the ending. But that shouldn't stop anyone from partaking in this selection from the renaissance of the American Western. The success of "3:10 to Yuma" grabbed the mainstream action crowd, and "Jesse James" will likely pull in members of the art house scene.
Yet this umpteenth telling of the Jesse James story, featuring bad men on horses and blazing guns, is not your typical Western. It fits better within the revisionist approach taken by Robert Altman in "McCabe and Mrs. Miller." It's much more of a character study than a hard-riding shoot 'em up. There isn't even much of a plot; it's about what's going on inside the heads of Jesse James (Brad Pitt), his assassin Robert Ford (Casey Affleck), and some of the others who rode with them during the last year of Jesse's life.
Based on the 1983 novel by Ron Hansen, the film picks up in 1881, with the James brothers (Sam Shepard plays Frank) getting a new gang together to take out trains and banks. The first thing established is the difference in the relationships between Jesse and Frank and with the Ford brothers (Sam Rockwell plays Charlie). There's nothing left between Frank and Jesse; they hardly acknowledge each other's existence. But there's still some respect left between amiable Charlie and uppity Bob.
Pitt's Jesse commands attention, even when just sitting still, staring at clouds. He can cause unease, even strike fear into enemies or friends without saying a word. And he's a man of action. "They got their company rules and I got my mean streak," he says firmly, after smacking a banker during a robbery. Yet with his cold eyes and heart to match, Jesse is the more approachable of the James brothers.
It's no-nonsense Frank who initiates the problems with young, wide-eyed Robert Ford - the real center of attention in the film - who worships Jesse and wants only to ride along with him. It's Frank who tells Bob that he doesn't have it in him to be the kind of gunslinger they write about in the nickel books - the same books that he collects and reads, and that are often all about Jesse.
But the inexperienced Bob wears a big smile, and has hope plastered all over his face. It's easy to picture him as another, latter-day assassin who once walked up to John Lennon and said, "I'm your biggest fan."
But there's a long time between the early scenes of Bob practically begging to be accepted by Jesse and later earning the title of "coward" for his dastardly act. Writer-director Andrew Dominik ("Chopper") likes to concentrate on grim, solemn faces. He's shaped a quiet, elegiac film that contains blasts of provoked and unprovoked violence. There are long segments of people sitting around, talking softly, and there are practically silent stretches of characters out in the elements - wind, rain, snow - looking small.
Pitt adds to his wide-ranging repertoire by offering this contemplative role. With the inner turmoil revealed in his part as Bob, and his upcoming turn as a gutsy detective in "Gone Baby Gone," Affleck is finally going to be a star. There's also an initially anachronistic moment that turns into a winning one. Liberal pundit James Carville shows up in a cameo as Missouri's Governor Crittendon - and he's pretty good!
When the film does at last get down to storytelling, it's focused on Bob's change of heart, on his switch from admirer to hater of Jesse. Novelist Ron Hansen has gone on record saying that Bob wanted to become greater than Jesse by killing him. Historians have wondered if a burnt-out Jesse actually brought about his own death after years of lung congestion, insomnia, and being on the run.
The film shows the deed, then jumps ahead to its aftermath. The film's multiple endings rival the final "Lord of the Rings." Yet the mood is never broken, and the 160 minutes slip by easily and dreamily.
Grade: B+
Rated R for violence and sexual references.