The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)

The North American premiere of The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) was at the Elgin Theatre on Saturday night. This was the Brad Pitt show.

This film was the closest I’ll get to a attending a Hollywood film premiere and perhaps the dumbest thing I’ve done this year. Yonge Street was closed off so that thousands of fans could gawk at Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. They signed autographs, waved to the crowds and did interviews. Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Eric Bana and Helen Hunt weren’t in the film but they came by to walk the red carpet and maybe watch the film. I wouldn’t blame them if they left early though.

The Assassination of Jesse James is a very mediocre film. It’s a great example of how the festival looks for anything with a big star, to sell tickets, draw crowds, create meaningless buzz and satisfy autograph hounds.

Tony Scott and Ridley Scott were executive producers and couldn’t save this film from being too long and at times, quite boring. Director Andrew Dominik could easily have cut 20-30 minutes but maybe the producer, Brad Pitt wouldn’t let him? Even the music score from Nick Cave sounded repetitive and lacking.

The great Roger Deakins was the cinematographer but I felt completely uninspired by his visual style. He does a nice job of making Alberta look like Missouri but that’s it.

On a positive note, the film is actually perfect for Brad Pitt who plays Jesse James. James was the biggest celebrity of his day, so casting Pitt in the lead role works quite well. Casey Afleck as Robert Ford plays a wonderful weasel — the best performance in the film.

There is a bit of violence in the film that startled a few audience members (people saying, “oh my” and ‘dear God” out loud). The crack of a pistol in one scene caused the woman in front of me to recoil in horror. I’ve never seen anyone snap their head back so fast. I really thought she was going to end up in the seat behind me. This gave me the best chuckle of the evening.

I don’t know. I think the direction and the screenplay by Andrew Dominik was the missing link to a great film. I had high hopes for this film and left disappointed.

Films are rated from 1 to 4 stars.

Stumble It!

Posted in 2007 TIFF at 1:31 AM