You can tell that "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" isn't a traditional Western because it gives
away two serious spoilers right there in its title. The mechanics of the plot are not essential here, as they tended to be in the days of the black-and-white Westerns. This is a study of the two title characters, and a look at the moral codes that prevailed in their lives. As befits a movie as ruminative as this one, writer/director Andrew Dominik (adapting Ron Hansen's 1983 historical novel) maintains a lyrical, gentle tone. An unseen narrator (Hugh Ross) tells parts of the story in straightforward but literary language, as if describing memories, the edges of some scenes blurred and accompanied by dreamlike music. It is an idyll for a cherished figure -- you know, the one who committed dozens of robberies and murdered at least 17 people. Jesse James is played by Brad Pitt, who like his friend George Clooney occasionally makes a film like this to remind us that he's more than just an entertaining media celebrity. Pitt's acting muscles, underused lately, are still in top form as he plays a man who was, among other things, an entertaining media celebrity just like himself.
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