The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

In the entire 160 minutes of this film there is not a single shot that is redundant or superfluous, and this can't be said very often. I agree with the review by Lima, who thoroughly analyzed the actors, characters, and their actions. The only difference is that for my voracious mainstream taste, I would need more action. But this piece will satisfy old hands and film intellectuals (not the cynics) one hundred percent. (25/05/2008)

It’s been a long time since I first saw this movie. Back then, I hadn’t yet been exposed to all the best western movies and so I rated it three stars. But now I thought that this movie couldn’t have been so bad and so I’ve risked watching the 153 minutes again. At that point, I minded the overly lengthy watch time once again, but I enjoyed the Pitt vs Affleck acting performances so much more. I was also enjoying the movie’s atmosphere along with the story itself and the best thing about it was the music by Nick Cave who had a few cameos himself. This movie is very original. I get the differing opinions: either you like it a lot or not. Either you respect its originality or not. At first I just respected it, but now I have to say that as far as cinematography goes, I enjoyed some of the moments a whole lot as well. (13/07/2014)

A slow, but smoothly told story of fate, in which you know the end of all the characters the moment they are introduced at the beginning as a bunch of primitive rednecks hungry for money. Dominik's direction, coupled with Deakins' cinematography, has an almost hypnotic effect, and the film rides (thanks also to Nick Cave’s score) on a wave of feeling rather than shaking the colts damnably low. Pitt acts "only" by constantly pitying them and Affleck's slimy rat - you hate, you understand, and on and on. Either way, he’s the one who owns this film. It’s too bad the director isn't as good at creating relationships between the characters (briskness) as he is at atmosphere because then it would have been brilliant. This way it stayed just below the higher review scores. (02/02/2009)

American history and national myths feature the story of the famous outlaw Jesse James. Rather than being an artistic western, the film is more of an anti-western that consistently breaks the genre's stereotypes and is uncompromising in its rejection of western clichés. This is its main advantage, but paradoxically also its greatest weakness. Film fans often complain about clichés, but at the same time, they really like them. Andrew Dominik did not conceive his film as an adventure story, but rather as a slowly flowing biographical story of Jesse James. The problem is that the runtime is dragged out and the film as a whole is unremarkable, so when combined with melancholic music, it acts like a sedative. Those who start watching the film late at night hoping to be entertained have a decent chance of falling asleep. The film has several strengths, such as the cast, where a group of excellent actors come together, and the excellent camera work. However, the overall impression is strongly influenced by the lack of dynamic action and effects that would be able to energize viewers. Overall impression: 55%. (13/12/2009)

If I had to use only one word to describe this film, I’d probably choose "captivating". A narrative flowing so seamlessly that I wouldn't have cut a single frame, and this is a 150-minute voyage completely outside Hollywood mainstream, where little editing, expressions that replace dozens of words and arty shots of the natural scenery, the kind which in Gladiator sounded like a few balladic lines in conventional mass prose, are the order of the day in almost every scene and form the characteristic meditative symbolism of the whole work. And when it's time to get verbal, the two wonderful leading actors make a powerful statement, and from the beginning they sparkle incredibly, and the level of their personal conflict works perhaps as well as it ever could – Affleck is a perfectly weird and unpredictable bastard, Pitt is incredibly charismatic and exudes such inner strength that I'd probably put on a mankini and declare my love to my high school maths teacher if he told me to. Except for the emotionally indifferent ending of their duel, which didn't satisfy me maybe because even Jesse himself, despite his charisma, is just a bastard you can hardly find your way to, this film deserves only praise. Deakins does a standard ethereal and therefore probably academically unappreciated job, the music will stay in your head long after the screening, and Andrew Dominik suffered a bout of filmmaking creativity that, with any luck, he will repeat. A different western, but more progressive than any other genre work in many years. (12/02/2017)