Villainy held in awe in latest Hollywood western
MOVIE REVIEW
by KEN BARTOLOTTA Reporter

Casey Affleck, left, is Robert Ford and Brad Pitt is Jesse James in "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford."

Director Andrew Dominic does a clever thing in his movie "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," exposing the climax of the film in the title itself, allowing us to instead focus on the superb acting and commentary that follows.

In the end, it's a movie about legends, about certain public figures and the lengths we go to prop them up on pedestals and somehow fill vacancies within ourselves, only to chastise them and tear them down as if they were our own creation.

And as you watch this movie and see Robert Ford's admiration for Jesse James turn to fear before again transforming into hate, as fear often does, you realize the assassination is only the beginning of this film. The real meat of the movie comes after Ford, played by Casey Affleck, shoots James, played by Brad Pitt, in the back of the head. And the assassination itself is only the starting point for all of that, you know it's coming, it's in the title, by god, but still it's a stunning scene that causes you to jump in your seat.

It's after that when this piece comes to life, as the curse of Jesse James seems to overtake Ford, and the massive burden that James carried around with him throughout the movie hunkers down on his assassin.

This is the sort of role that was made for Pitt, and he really does nail it. Part lunatic, part martyr, Pitt manages to capture that sense of devil may-care bravado at the point when it begins to meld into mental breakdown.

And playing the less than capable successor to that legend is Affleck's Ford, a bumbling buffoon whose greatest asset is his innate penchant to appear both bewildered and brooding at the same time, gazing upon James and his massive legacy with absolute awe.

By film's end, it's Ford who has suffered more than James. It's hard to tell if the outlaw ever felt the shot to his head, but for Ford, the pain that follows is something that remains until his untimely demise.

It certainly says something about society's embrace of villainy and our love for outlaws that often wins out over what is considered right.

It's not the outcome that matters most in this movie, not the assassination that is paramount, but instead the means by which we get to our destination that takes center stage.

e-mail: kenb@beenews.com