Photography started on August 29, 2005, and ended in December 2005. Filming took place near Calgary, Canmore, and Edmonton, Alberta, and Winnipeg, Manitoba. To achieve the visual style he wanted for the movie, Dominik took influences from many sources, including still photographers, images clipped from magazines, stills from Days of Heaven, and even Polaroids. The original edit of the movie was envisioned by Dominik to be "a dark, contemplative examination of fame and infamy", reaching more than three hours in runtime. This was opposed by the studio and the film was edited repeatedly.
In 1881, young starstruck Robert "Bob" Ford seeks out Jesse James when the James Gang is planning a train robbery in Blue Cut, Missouri, making unsuccessful attempts to join the gang with the help of his older brother Charley, already a member. The train turns out to be carrying only a fraction of the money originally thought, and a dispirited Frank James leaves the gang and his brother. Jesse returns home to Kansas City, Missouri, bringing the Fords, Dick Liddil and Jesse's cousin, Wood Hite. Jesse sends Charley, Wood, and Dick away, but insists that Bob stays for help in moving furniture to a new home in St. Joseph, Missouri. Bob becomes more admiring of Jesse before being sent away. He stays at the farmhouse of his widowed sister, Martha Bolton, where he rejoins his brother Charley, Hite, and Liddil.
Liddil reveals to Bob that he is in collusion with another member of the James gang, Jim Cummins, to capture Jesse for a substantial bounty. Meanwhile, Jesse visits another gang member, Ed Miller, who gives away information on Cummins' plot. Jesse kills Miller, then departs with Liddil to hunt down Cummins. Unable to locate him, Jesse viciously beats Albert Ford, a young cousin of Bob and Charley who had hosted him. Later, Liddil stays with Hite at Hite's father's house, where he has sex with Hite's young stepmother. Upon learning this, Hite tracks Liddil down to Bolton's and holds him at gunpoint, but Bob intervenes, fatally shooting Hite. They dump his body in the woods to conceal the murder from Jesse.
Jesse appears at the Boltons' for dinner, where the Fords deny having seen Liddil recently. At dinner, Jesse mocks Bob for his idolization of him, leading Bob to become less enchanted with and more resentful of Jesse, especially after hearing about what was done to his cousin. Jesse and Charley travel to St. Joseph where Jesse learns of Hite's disappearance, about which Charley denies knowing anything. Meanwhile, Bob goes to Kansas City Police Commissioner Henry Craig, saying he knows Jesse's whereabouts. To prove his allegiance to the James Gang, Bob assists Craig and Sheriff James Timberlake with the arrest of Dick Liddil. Following Liddil's confession to participation in numerous gang robberies, Bob brokers a deal with the Governor of Missouri, Thomas T. Crittenden. He is given ten days to capture or kill Jesse and is promised a substantial bounty and a full pardon for Hite's murder.
Charley persuades Jesse to take Bob into the gang; the brothers return to St. Joseph. Introduced as cousins to Jesse's wife and two children, they stay with the family. Jesse wants to revive his gang by committing robberies with the Fords, beginning with the Platte City bank. During their stay, Jesse becomes increasingly suspicious of the brothers, not allowing them to be alone together. However, as the stay passes uneventfully, he later gives Bob a new nickel-plated gun as a token of apology. On the morning of April 3, 1882, as Jesse and the Ford brothers prepare to depart for the robbery, Jesse learns of Liddil's arrest from a newspaper. He suddenly removes his gun belt and climbs a chair to clean a dusty picture. Bob shoots Jesse in the back of the head with the gun given to him before fleeing with Charley. They send a telegram to the governor to announce Jesse's death, for which they were to receive $10,000. However, they never receive more than $500 each.
The Fords try to capitalize on the shooting, starring in a theater show in Manhattan which sees them re-enacting Jesse's murder, but people soon gradually become hostile towards the pair, hailing Jesse as a legend and calling Bob a "coward." The shows are eventually stopped after Bob loses his temper and beats an audience member for mocking him. Guilt-stricken, Charley writes numerous letters to Zee James asking for her forgiveness but never mails any of them. He commits suicide in May 1884. Bob tries to move on with his life, becoming increasingly regretful of his past actions. On June 8, 1892, Bob is murdered by Edward O'Kelley at his saloon in Creede, Colorado. O'Kelley is sentenced to life in prison, but he is pardoned after ten years in 1902.
Ron Hansen made a cameo as a frontier reporter.[4] The narration was provided by Hugh Ross, an assistant editor on the film.[5]Nick Cave also appears as a folk singer in a saloon.
Production
Development and casting
The working engine and train at Fort Edmonton Park was featured in the film.
In March 2004, Warner Bros. and Plan B Entertainment acquired feature film rights to Ron Hansen's 1983 novel The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Andrew Dominik was hired to write and direct the film adaptation. Pitt was considered to portray Jesse James.[6] The role of Ford eventually was between Affleck and Shia LaBeouf; Affleck was cast because it was felt that LaBeouf was too young. Bill Clinton's presidential campaign strategist James Carville was selected to play the Governor of Missouri.[7] By January 2005, Pitt was cast.[8]
Filming
Filming began on August 29, 2005, in Calgary.[9] Filming also took place in other parts of Alberta, including the McDougall Church in Morley, Alberta, McKinnon Flats, Heritage Park, the Fairmont Palliser Hotel, the Kananaskis area, several private ranches[10] and the historical Fort Edmonton Park.[11] The historical town of Creede, Colorado was recreated at a cost of $1 million near Goat Creek in Alberta.[12] Filming also took place in Winnipeg in the city's historic Exchange District; the Burton Cummings Theatre (formerly known as The Walker Theatre) and the Pantages Playhouse Theatre,[13] and concluded in December 2005.[12]
The film was initially edited by director Dominik to be "a dark, contemplative examination of fame and infamy,"[14] similar to the style of director Terrence Malick. The studio opposed Dominik's approach, preferring less contemplation and more action. One version of the film had a running time of more than three hours. Producers Pitt and Ridley Scott and editors Dylan Tichenor and Michael Kahn collaborated to assemble and test different versions. Tichenor left the production early to cut There Will Be Blood and was replaced by editor Curtis Clayton, who ultimately finished the production. Kahn was brought in for several weeks as the studio's "go to" editor. The test versions did not receive strong scores from test audiences. Despite the negative response, the audiences considered the performances by Pitt and Affleck to be some of their careers' best.[15] Brad Pitt had it written into his contract that the studio could not change the name of the film.[16]
Cinematography
Cinematographer Roger Deakins used palettes of brown and black to produce a bleak yet oneiric quality to the film, reminiscent of the paintings of Andrew Wyeth.An exterior shot. The color aberration around the edges is meant to imitate the look of old photographs.
One of the most well-known sequences of the film is the scene of a train robbery at nighttime. Cinematographer Roger Deakins used various cinematographic techniques to give the train more of a presence when it was in pitch darkness. The idea was to generate a sense of foreboding atmosphere by using only the lanterns held up by the outlaws and the 5K PAR light mounted on the front of the train[18] In order to enhance the blacks, Deakins did a slight bleach bypass on the negative, which was especially important in terms of rendering detail.[18]
Some scenes in the film have a blurred effect around the borders of the frame. These were achieved by taking old wide-angle lenses and mounting them onto the front of several cameras (Arri Macros in this case). Deakins claimed to have pioneered this technique, naming these combinations of lenses "Deakinizers", which created the effect of vignetting and a slight color aberration around the edges. Deakins recalls:
Most of those shots were used for transitional moments, and the idea was to create the feeling of an old-time camera. We weren't trying to be nostalgic, but we wanted those shots to be evocative. The idea sprang from an old photograph Andrew [Dominik] liked, and we did a lot of tests to mimic the look of the photo. Andrew had a whole lot of photographic references for the look of the movie, mainly the work of still photographers, but also images clipped from magazines, stills from Days of Heaven, and even Polaroids taken on location that looked interesting or unusual. He hung all of them up in the long corridor of the production office. That was a wonderful idea, because every day we'd all pass by [images] that immediately conveyed the tone of the movie he wanted to make.[18]
Several time-lapse sequences appear throughout the film, which were shot by Steadicam operator Damon Moreau. According to Moreau, he was sent to do such shots when the crew was not quite ready to shoot a scene. [citation needed] These time-lapse sequences were often accompanied by the film's melancholic score, suggesting the passage of time and contributing to the unease that builds up to the inevitable yet unsettling climax.[citation needed]
The music for the film was composed by Australian musicians Nick Cave and Warren Ellis who had collaborated previously to create the award-winning score for the Australian film The Proposition (2005).[19]
Nick Cave has a minor part in the latter part of the film.[20] He plays a strolling balladeer in a crowded bar performing "The Ballad of Jesse James", a folk song which describes Robert Ford as a coward, unaware that Ford himself is present.[21]
Cave and Ellis released a double disc album titled White Lunar in September 2009, which contains several tracks from the Jesse James score, as well as tracks they composed for other films up to 2009.[22]
Release
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford was originally slated a release date for September 15, 2006.[23] The release date was postponed to February 2007 at first,[24] but ultimately set for a September 21, 2007 release,[10] almost two years after filming was completed.[15]
The film opened in limited release on September 21, 2007, in five theaters and grossed $147,812 in its opening weekend, an average of $29,256 per theater.[25] The film has a total gross of less than $4 million.
Warner Home Video released the film on DVD on February 5, 2008[26] in the US, and on March 31 in the UK. So far, about 566,537 DVD units have been sold, bringing $9,853,258 in revenue.[27]
Reception
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 77% of 177 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.2/10.The website's consensus reads: "On the strength of its two lead performances Assassination is an expertly crafted period piece, and an insightful look at one of the enduring figures of American lore."[28]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 68 out of 100, based on 32 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[29]
Brian Tallerico of UGO gave the film an "A" and said that it is "the best western since Unforgiven." Tallerico also said, "Stunning visuals, award-worthy performances, and a script that takes incredibly rewarding risks, Jesse James is a masterpiece and one of the best films of the year."[30] Kurt Loder of MTV said, "If I were inclined to wheel out clichés like 'Oscar-worthy', I'd certainly wheel them out in support of this movie, on several counts."[31]
Richard Roeper on the television show Ebert & Roeper said, "If you love classic and stylish mood Westerns such as McCabe and Mrs. Miller and The Long Riders, this is your film."[32]Roger Ebert noted the "curiously erotic dance of death" between James and the "mesmerized" younger Ford. Finally, he said, "If Robert cannot be the lover of his hero, what would be more intimate than to kill him?"[33] He notes that it has the "space and freedom" of classic Western epics, where "the land is so empty, it creates a vacuum demanding men to become legends."[33]
The Star-Ledger film critic Stephen Whitty gave the film four stars and called it an "epic film that's part literary treatise, part mournful ballad, and completely a portrait of our world, as seen in a distant mirror." Whitty also said that the film is "far superior" and "truer to its own world" than 3:10 to Yuma.[34] Josh Rosenblatt of The Austin Chronicle gave the film 3.5 stars and said the film "grabs on to many of the classic tropes of the Western– the meandering passage of time, the imposing landscapes, the abiding loneliness, the casual violence– and sets about mapping their furthest edges."[35]
Film critic Emanuel Levy gave the film an "A" and wrote, "Alongside Joel and Ethan Coen's No Country for Old Men, which is a Western in disguise, or rather a modern Western, Assassination of Jesse James is the second masterpiece of the season." Levy also wrote, "Like Bonnie & Clyde, Dominik's seminal Western is a brilliant, poetic saga of America's legendary criminal as well as meditative deconstruction of our culture's most persistent issues: link of crime and fame, myths of heroism and obsession with celebrity."[36] Lewis Beale of Film Journal International said "Impeccably shot, cast and directed, this is a truly impressive film from sophomore writer-director Andrew Dominik... but suffers from an unfortunate case of elephantiasis." Beale said Affleck is "outstanding in a breakout performance" and said Pitt is "scary and charismatic." Beale wrote, "The director seems so in love with his languorous pacing, he's incapable of cutting the five or ten seconds in any number of scenes that could have given the film a more manageable running time. In the scheme of things, however, this amounts to little more than a quibble." Beale said that ultimately, the film is "a fascinating, literary-based work that succeeds as both art and genre film."[37]
Critic Mark Kermode named the film as his best of 2007 in his end-of-year review on Simon Mayo's BBC radio programme. Kermode later wrote that historians a hundred years from now will consider it "one of the most wrongly neglected masterpieces of its era."[38]
Many critics opined that the film is too long. Kirk Honeycutt of The Hollywood Reporter said that the relationship between Pitt and Affleck "gets smothered in pointlessly long takes, repetitive scenes, grim Western landscapes and mumbled, heavily accented dialogue."[39]Los Angeles Daily News critic Bob Strauss gave the film 2.5 stars out of 4 and said, "To put it most bluntly, the thing is just too long and too slow." Strauss also said, "Every element of this Western is beautifully rendered. So why is it a chore to sit through?"[40] Pam Grady of Reel.com gave the film 2 stars out of 4 and said, "The movie is merely a long, empty exercise in style."[41] Stephanie Zacharek of Salon.com said that the film "represents a breakthrough in the moviegoing experience. It may be the first time we've been asked to watch a book on tape."[42]
Peter Bradshaw's review in The Guardian noted James's contribution to his own demise as well as the apparent paradox in the title of both novel and film:
As his career draws to an end, Jesse James becomes aware of the impossibility of facing an increasingly vast army of sheriffs, federal agents and Pinkerton men. He senses that, inevitably, one of his gang will in any case sell him out for a fat reward. Unwilling to give the lawmen that satisfaction, James embraces his own death and subtly cultivates the mercurial attentions of the most obviously cringing and cowardly of his associates: 20-year-old Robert Ford. With the taunts and whims of a lover, he encourages Ford's envious, murderous fascination, and grooms him as his own killer, so that his own legend will be pristine after his death. He engineers a character-assassination of Ford, and the title, knowingly, gets it precisely the wrong way around.
Bradshaw took issue with the narration that often redundantly describes action clearly visible to the viewer on the screen. "The only false note is the use of a supercilious third-person narrative voiceover, which smudges the picture's crispness and clarity."[43]
During a post-screening Q & A at the movie's "revival" in 2013, Dominik reported that when he showed Terrence Malick a cut of Jesse James, his reaction was "it's too slow," drawing a laugh from the audience.[44]
Manohla Dargis of The New York Times called Roger Deakins' cinematography "impeccable, stark, high-contrast" and wrote that "the cinematography may speak to Mr. Dominik's yearning for meaning and importance more than it does of his outlaw, but the visuals often dazzle and enthrall."[45] Deakins' work on the film is widely acclaimed and considered as some of the best cinematography of the 21st century.[46][47][48]
Top ten lists
The film appeared on many critics' top ten lists of the best films of 2007.[49]
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford was identified by the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures as one of the top 10 films of 2007. The board also named Casey Affleck as Best Supporting Actor in the film.[52][53] The San Francisco Film Critics Circle named The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford as the Best Picture of 2007. The circle also awarded Affleck as best supporting actor for the film. Affleck was nominated for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture for the 65th Golden Globe Awards.[54]
The film also holds a place on Empire's recent list of The 500 Greatest Films of All Time, coming in at #396.[56] In 2016, it was voted the 92nd best film since 2000 in an international critics' poll.[57]
Casey Affleck is an American actor. He is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and a Golden Globe Award. The younger brother of actor Ben Affleck, he began his career as a child actor, appearing in the PBS television film Lemon Sky (1988). He later appeared in three Gus Van Sant films: To Die For (1995), Good Will Hunting (1997), Gerry (2002), and in Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's film series (2001–2007). His first leading role was in Steve Buscemi's independent comedy-drama Lonesome Jim (2006).
Ron Hansen is an American novelist, essayist, and professor. He is known for writing literary westerns exploring the people and history of the American heartland, notably The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (1983), which was adapted into an acclaimed film.
Robert Newton Ford was an American outlaw who killed fellow outlaw Jesse James on April 3, 1882. He and his brother Charley, both members of the James–Younger Gang under James's leadership, went on to perform paid re-enactments of the killing at publicity events. Ford went on to operate various saloons and dance halls in the West, before being killed – at age 30 – by Edward Capehart O'Kelley in Creede, Colorado.
Alison Elliott is an American actress. She was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for the 1997 film The Wings of the Dove. Her other film appearances include The Spitfire Grill (1996), Birth (2004), The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) and 20th Century Women (2016).
Andrew Dominik is an Australian film director and screenwriter. He has directed the crime film Chopper (2000), the Western drama film The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007), the neo-noir crime film Killing Them Softly (2012), and the biographical psychological drama Blonde (2022). He has also directed the documentary film One More Time with Feeling (2016) and two episodes of the Netflix series Mindhunter in 2019.
Robert Woodson "Wood" Hite was an outlaw and cousin of Frank and Jesse James. He was a member of the James-Younger gang, participating in a number of robberies and other crimes. He was shot dead by Robert Ford during a gunfight with Ford's friend Dick Liddil. The death of Hite precipitated the series of events that culminated in the killing of Jesse James by Ford.
Paul Andrew Schneider is an American actor best known for his portrayal of Dick Liddil in the epic western film The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) and his lead role as Mark Brendanawicz on the first and second seasons of the NBC political satirical sitcom Parks and Recreation (2009–10). He also appeared in lead roles in the romantic drama film All the Real Girls (2003) and the comedy film The Babymakers (2012), the former of which he co-wrote with David Gordon Green and was nominated for the Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Performer.
The 79th National Board of Review Awards, honoring the best in film for 2007, were given on 15 January 2008.
The 6th San Francisco Film Critics Circle Awards, honoring the best in film for 2007, were given on 10 December 2007.
The 28th Boston Society of Film Critics Awards, honoring the best in filmmaking in 2007, were given on 11 December 2007.
The 20th Chicago Film Critics Association Awards, given by the CFCA on December 13, 2007, honored the best in film for 2007.
The 13th Dallas–Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards, given by the Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association on 17 December 2007, honored the best in film for 2007.
The 4th St. Louis Gateway Film Critics Association Awards were announced on December 21, 2007.
Charles Wilson Ford was an American outlaw and a member of the James Gang. He was the lesser known older brother of Robert Ford, the killer of Jesse James. Charley Ford was introduced to Jesse and Frank James by Wood Hite and joined the gang in 1881 at the same time as his brother.
Dylan Tichenor, A.C.E. is an American film editor. He is the recipient of several accolades, including a Critics' Choice Movie Award, a Hollywood Film Award and a Satellite Award, and has been nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award, two Academy Awards, two BAFTA Awards and four Eddie Awards.
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is a 1983 historical novel by American writer Ron Hansen. It explores the life and times of Jesse James and his gang, and his death at the hands of Robert Ford.
The True Story of Jesse James is a 1957 American Western drama film adapted from Henry King's 1939 film Jesse James, which was only loosely based on James' life. It was directed by Nicholas Ray, with Robert Wagner portraying Jesse James and Jeffrey Hunter starring as Frank James. Filming took place during 1955. Originally titled The James Brothers in the United Kingdom, the film focused on the relationship between the two James brothers during the last 18 years of Jesse James' life.
James Andrew "Dick" Liddil was an American outlaw who was one of the last surviving members of the James-Younger Gang. His surname is often misspelled as Liddel, Liddell, or Liddle.
The 11th Online Film Critics Society Awards, honoring the best in film for 2007, were given on 9 January 2008.
Cultural depictions of Jesse James appear in various types of media, including literature, video games, comics, music, stage productions, films, television, and radio. James is variously described as an American outlaw, bank and train robber, guerrilla, and leader of the James–Younger Gang. After the American civil war, as members of various gangs of outlaws, Jesse and Frank James robbed banks, stagecoaches, and trains across the Midwest, gaining national fame and even sympathy despite their crimes. James became an iconic figure from the era, and his life has been dramatized and memorialized numerous times.
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