Rama’s SCREEN

You’ve seen Brad Pitt got hit by a running car (Meet Joe Black), you’ve seen him talkin’ in some weird accent (Snatch), you’ve even seen him conned Al Pacino (Ocean’s 13). Jesse James is true story character that has been portrayed in many movies; but Brad as Jesse is unlike anything you’ve ever seen..
America’s Wild West tends to popularize its outlaws and make them heroes. The sins of bad boy Billy the Kid just seem so much more irresistible as opposed to the good marshals and sheriffs that ran the towns back in those days. Maybe there’s something about people who rob places and get away with it. The character Robert Ford in this particular movie is one of those die hard fans that think that way.
Robert Ford (Casey Affleck) idolizes the charismatic Jesse James (Brad Pitt). In a nation that longs for antihero, Jesse James answers the call. But after finding out how unstable his favorite icon can be, Ford’s fearing for his life causing him to commit the one of the most infamous assassination in Western history.

What’s really interesting about this movie is that the same with how Media today can alter the truth, media back then, through the fictional comic books about James brothers’ gang, made Jesse James seemed god-like.
Robert Ford is like any of us who admires sports players, pop stars, and of course screen celebrities. The difference is that not most of us actually got the chance to get close to those people, but Ford did and he even knew the real Jesse James, the scary, very human side of him.
I don’t think this movie glorifies Jesse James, instead it shows that even a criminal could be a loving father to his family but that does not mean he’s a saint much less hero.
The cinematography and the poetic touch to it reminds me of the movie ‘The Thin Red Line‘

I like this movie mainly because of the story and the characters are rich with conflicts against each other and each of them has battles within himself. Brad Pitt, in my opinion, did an excellent performance as a man who probably did not realize that he himself had been affected by his sins causing him to not know who he could trust anymore. His character’s not as crazy as the one Brad played for the movie ‘12 Monkeys’ but definitely borderline paranoia.
And it’s a fresh breeze of air once in a while to have a western movie like the legendary Clint Eastwood Oscar winner film ‘Unforgiven’, something that’s just not all about shootout and chase scene on top of a moving train, which by the way I don’t mind watching at all.
I don’t think THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES would get the same recognition as Unforgiven, but surprises do happen.

Casey Affleck did a brilliant job as Robert Ford, he might just be a more talented actor than his brother Ben.
You could just see from Casey’s facial expressions and notice a man who feels betrayed by the very hero he worships. The only thing I don’t like about his acting is that sometimes I couldn’t understand some of the words he’s saying, maybe because in this movie this Boston native was trying southern accent so something got lost in the pronunciation, who knows!

Was it justified to kill a murderer like Jesse James? Was Robert Ford really a coward for doing what he did, I mean it’s either kill or be killed, right?
Does acting like Robin Hood mean people should have enough reason to overlook your dark side?
Brad Pitt probably has had to deal with several psycho fans throughout his career, I wonder if he himself would find his own Robert Ford around him. John Lennon unfortunately met his.

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