After a brief hiatus in which the author of this blog relocated from Sydney to New York City, FRAME BY FRAME is back in action. Keep watching!
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, directed by Andrew Dominik (Chopper) and championed by Brad Pitt (who plays James) is a film that could have been so much more. A western that tries to tap into the psychological spaces that can be found in such classics of the genre as High Noon and the work of Sergio Leone, Jesse James fails to engage with its audience. Vast shots and long close ups do not necessarily equal artistic integrity, despite the filmmaker’s obvious assumptions otherwise. While the film looks beautiful, it ultimately occupies very little emotional space and is, like the title, much too long. At 2hrs and 40 minutes the film attempts a poetry-like expression and yet what it comes up with is repetitiveness and constant half-baked explanations for the actions of its protagonists.
The shame is that there was so much to work with both in terms of those involved in the films’ creation and in the story itself. The insanity of Jesse James and more importantly the strange hero-worshipping character of Robert Ford are potentially fascinating elements which are paid lip service at best. For all its posturing and attempts at getting to the dark heart of the matter, the film fails to transcend from a pretty façade to the black underbelly of psychotic relations that is supposed to exist between James and Ford. It is disappointing that Dominik’s follow up to the excellent film, Chopper, is such a let down.
While Casey Affleck does in fact do a superb job as Ford, there is not much he can do to transform a dull script and a long running time. Additionally, there is very little chemistry between him and Pitt, with Pitt seeming like he is just going through the motions and appearing particularly wooden throughout.
While The Assassination of Jesse James has a proven director and bankable stars, this is one film that would have benefited from some severe re-writes and more forceful direction. This film could have been a dynamic exploration of the unbalanced and shifting power-relations between two very different men, driven by completely disparate forces. Instead the audience is handed a by the numbers period piece that sticks to the surface while alluding all the time to depths it can’t quite reach.
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, directed by Andrew Dominik (Chopper) and championed by Brad Pitt (who plays James) is a film that could have been so much more. A western that tries to tap into the psychological spaces that can be found in such classics of the genre as High Noon and the work of Sergio Leone, Jesse James fails to engage with its audience. Vast shots and long close ups do not necessarily equal artistic integrity, despite the filmmaker’s obvious assumptions otherwise. While the film looks beautiful, it ultimately occupies very little emotional space and is, like the title, much too long. At 2hrs and 40 minutes the film attempts a poetry-like expression and yet what it comes up with is repetitiveness and constant half-baked explanations for the actions of its protagonists.
The shame is that there was so much to work with both in terms of those involved in the films’ creation and in the story itself. The insanity of Jesse James and more importantly the strange hero-worshipping character of Robert Ford are potentially fascinating elements which are paid lip service at best. For all its posturing and attempts at getting to the dark heart of the matter, the film fails to transcend from a pretty façade to the black underbelly of psychotic relations that is supposed to exist between James and Ford. It is disappointing that Dominik’s follow up to the excellent film, Chopper, is such a let down.
While Casey Affleck does in fact do a superb job as Ford, there is not much he can do to transform a dull script and a long running time. Additionally, there is very little chemistry between him and Pitt, with Pitt seeming like he is just going through the motions and appearing particularly wooden throughout.
While The Assassination of Jesse James has a proven director and bankable stars, this is one film that would have benefited from some severe re-writes and more forceful direction. This film could have been a dynamic exploration of the unbalanced and shifting power-relations between two very different men, driven by completely disparate forces. Instead the audience is handed a by the numbers period piece that sticks to the surface while alluding all the time to depths it can’t quite reach.
3 comments:
I can't comment on the film, Caitlin, as I've not yet seen it. But how did you find NYC? And where did you stay? I spent a week in Greenwich Village in 2003/04 and found it fantastic.
I beg to differ, but welcome back!!
Hey Larry, great blog, i'll be reading here reviews of films that will probably get to Chile in 2 years or maybe never, either way it's amusing, ha. Luv, Laucha.
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