END OF A COWBOY
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Directed by Andrew Dominik. Available now on DVD.
by Jack Ferguson
THE
Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert
Ford, was one of the hidden gems of last year.
Despite critical acclaim, not many people went
to see it at the cinema. That’s a real shame,
because when I did I was completely blown away.
As it’s just been released on DVD you’ve got
a second chance to catch it.
The poor turnout at the cinema was despite the
fact of it starring one of
Pitt is the legendary train and bank robber
Jesse James, and Affleck the young boy Robert
Ford, who spent his whole life idolising the
first media celebrity in the
The film opens with the James’ gang last robbery,
which Ford has managed to worm his way to being
part of. In the run up to the robbery Ford tries
to impress his need to be one of the gang on
Jesse’s older brother Frank and then on Jesse
himself. Although Frank is unimpressed, Jesse
chooses to keep him around. He seems in some
way fascinated by this shuffling, shy young
man who clearly idolises him, watching his every
move. Affleck plays Robert Ford as the prototype
celebrity stalker. Although Jesse is violent
and terrifying, this weird character always
at his side is scary in his own creepy way.
Pitt plays Jesse James as a tormented psychopath.
In real life Jesse James spent his teens as
a member of a brutal confederate guerrilla squad
in the
The film, which only covers the last months
of his life, shows him to be melancholy, and
paranoid, believing those around him are going
to betray him to the authorities, and so murdering
his former friends and companions.
His capacity to flip is in several scenes genuinely
terrifying. In the end all he is left with for
companions are his weird stalker and his brother.
The film shows Jesse teasing and playing with
Robert, pushing him to the eventual outcome:
Robert Ford decided he would not be famous for
being Jesse James’ companion, but as the man
that killed him.
The film goes on beyond the killing itself to
show what happened to Robert afterward, as he
did become an overnight celebrity, and started
a stage show, reenacting how he killed Jesse
again and again. But as Jesse begins to become
the first mass media hero, a figure turned into
‘the American Robin Hood’, his fame becomes
a curse as people come to hate him for what
he’s done. It examines his guilt and regret,
until finally he falls victim to someone else
who is inspired by the myth of Jesse James to
violent action.
The film is long, and some critics found it
slow, but I think it’s worth every minute. It’s
beautifully shot, taking the time to linger
over every moment of Jesse’s paranoid pacing
and staring, or Robert Ford’s creepy sidelong
looks at his hero or mumbling words. There’s
a massive tension that just builds and build
between the two stars as the film goes on, played
out in their every gesture. The setting is a
beautifully shot rural
A mention should also be given to the brilliant
score, written in part by
I bought the special edition DVD, which includes
an extra documentary telling the historical
story of Jesse James. If you don’t know the
history, of how his crimes began as political
revenge against radical republicans, and how
he the pro-Southern, pro-slavery media turned
him into a heroic figure after the war, it’s
good at giving you the background.
But the main thing is you really need this film
in your life, it’s a masterpiece and people
should beg, borrow, download or whatever themselves
a copy so you get to see it.
The Wild Brunch
Awww,
ma belly. Too many roast tatties? Too much Peri
Peri sauce on the quorn burger? Two boiled eggs?
Maybe that desk job and customer service pressures
are causing an ulcer to erupt and poison me?
Who can help?
Well I don’t have time to go the doctors. I
would have to make up the time and work earlier
or later. NHS 24? Naw, TV said that they gave
people baaaad advice. Mum? Oh no, no. Her universal
cure for diseases and ailments from the cold,
viral infections and a shattered knee is malt
whisky.
Not saying it does not work for many bodily
matters but I need a little more science and
little less peet.
There’s only one place left for us 21st Century
people. A little surgery called The Internet.
If something is broken, leeking, hurting, demented
or even confused then there is an answer on
the net.
Unfortunately not only is there answer, there
are about 42billion more of them and the people
providing them go from experts, fools or mouthpieces
for a biomedical-industrial-complex eager to
profit from our fears and hopes with super drugs
and theories.
So in the most information accessible age of
the millennium can the internet help us and
who am I to judge?
Well as a sexy physically active alpha-male
with a interest in alcohol abuse and self doubt,
I have used the net on the more than one occasion
to assist in the diagnosis process.
The results have been mixed.
Case One: Returning from a game of fives one
night with a wrist so swollen it looked like
a nest of wasps was growing in there, I thought
the only answer could be a broken wrist.
Most websites agreed, pointing to real areas
of pain. NHS 24 diagnosed some sort of bone
disease! Hospital and nurse agreed with the
majority of the sites. Well done internet.
Case Two: After a few weeks of toothache I see
the dentist who does some dentistry. Pain goes
but then returns after a week. Do I want to
go back to the dentist since each visit reminds
me of The Marathon Man? Internet tells me about
various types of gum disease and infections.
I’m going to die! Dentist says tooth is dead
and yanks it out after one unsuccessful attempt.
Internet caused undue alarm.
Case Three: This world. This system. Full of
hope, teasing your ambitions and desires while
crushing them in dreary cities, depressing work
and through people you think are scum. You drink
to forget but never forget to drink. Was at
a low ebb. Wikipedia told me I was clinically
depressed. I had ticked all the boxes. Luckily
my best friend pointed out that was bollocks
and gave me a hug. Internet -super failure.
I could go on but hey you see the point. The
column’s pointless? Defo. But also you got it
to take dead easy when using the beast that
is the interweb. Opinion as fact or a even worse
a sales pitch as fact can only mean a information
consumer struggling to filter the advice from
the hindrance.
By the way what was the problem the belly. Gas.
Quick
Goodbye:
Richard Widmark: Great yet unfashionable
actor in classic films. Essential viewing: