The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford: A Review

Fatalism runs throughout The Assassination of Jesse James. The title reveals the direction the movie’s heading, and most everything in the movie, from the lighting, the camera work, the music, even the characters themselves seem to have that sense of doomed destiny.

Not that the essential story is so invested. As the movie unfolds, Jesse James met Robert Ford as a 19-year old who was meeting his boyhood hero. Enamored with the mystique of Jesse and his fame and notoriety, he and Ford’s brother eventually convince him to let him join the gang and to become part of his inner circle of trust. In a matter of months, James would die at the Ford’s hand, shot in the back in his own home. In terms of history, it is not a death that was invited or expected. At least, not on the surface.

The film depicts the final months of James’ life. This is a time when he is already an iconic figure, with years of robberies behind him. But he is also seeing an unwinding of his work, as most of his original gang is now dead or in prison. In the opening moments of the film, we see them pull off a train robbery, after which even his brother Frank leaves Missouri and heads back east. It’s as if we are joining the film at the end of Jesse’s story, celebrating what should be his last hurrah and his final sendoff.

What follows then is a kind of working through of the aftermath of Jesse’s career, even though nobody acknowledges or knows it as such. Even as Jesse talks about pulling off other crimes, mostly he seems to wander from gang member to gang member, some of whom are feeling the pressure of the law. In the midst of this is Bob. When we first meet him, Bob, remarkably played by Casey Affleck, comes across as awkward, even a bit slow, and definitely playing over his head. His hero, Jesse, starts out as a relaxed and winsome person, but over time his personality changes provokes Bob to change his view. What begins as hero worship becomes increasing jealousy at his success, his fame and notoriety. Couple that with an increasing fear of Jesse, and the groundwork is laid for Bob’s betrayal.

The place where the film invites the most discussion is on the portrayal of Jesse James by Brad Pitt. When we see his early charms, it seems a natural place for us to connect with a character played by a Hollywood megastar. But over time we see his explosive violence, his erratic depression, and his looming sense of despair. What becomes increasingly apparent throughout the story is Jesse’s foreknowledge that his death is coming quick, and at times a seeming acceptance, even invitation, for that relief.

Where the film takes off for me is in its final 25 minutes. After Jesse’s death, the film considers the aftermath of the assassination for Bob. In a sense, he achieves his dreams, as he becomes a household name throughout the country. In that single act, the film posits, he achieves as much fame as Jesse did in his entire career. But it’s a success that charges an enormous price. When he killed Jesse, he thought he’d be appointed a hero. The film’s title reminds us that neither history nor his contemporary audience were so kind. Instead, as he retells the story on stage, something the film claims he did over 800 times in the years following Jesse’s death, he deals with the increasing knowledge that he is seen as a coward. It’s a sense of failure that shapes his life and leaves him, like Jesse, seeming to long for death as his release.

The film provoked my thinking on at least a couple of topics. Jesse’s foreboding sense of doom seems to stem from a kind of saddling of sin. Weighed down by years of guilt, he seems here to long for escape. We don’t see him enjoying his fame or the fruits of his crimes. Instead, the only moments he seems somewhat happy is when he hides in his private life, living with his wife and kids under an assumed name. Having chosen his lot, he seems full of regret, but not knowing any way to escape.

Whether it’s Jesse or Robert, the film offers interesting commentary on our contemporary celebrity culture. Historically, it is a reminder that our celebrity culture may not be as new as we think, as we witness the appointment of legendary status to an outlaw. More importantly, though, the film invites us to consider the stories of fruitless pursuits. Whether it’s Jesse or Robert, their pursuit of wealth and fame winds up hollow, though for different reasons. For Jesse, he seems to glimpse happiness in the mundane life of a family man, but it is a life that eludes him because of a lifetime of sinful choices.

For Robert, his ambition gets the best of him. Admiration turns to jealousy, and so he achieves his dreams in the form of wealth and fame. But the price is heavy indeed, costing him friends and family, and dumping on him an isolation that must be lived out in the public eye.

While the film invites us to be careful about what we seek, it’s interesting that it sees no redemption for these choices. It only lets the characters live out the consequences of what they pursued.

Lord, save me from myself, my ambitions, and my pursuits.