"The Assassination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford (2007)

“I honestly believe I’m destined for great things Mr James”.

Commencing in “Blue Cut, Missouri, September 7th 1881” and following a surreal and dreamlike sequence full of sepia tones and soft edged shots (accompanied by a diary like narration), the camera pans to, then zooms in on the star of this quiet and quite beautiful film. Forever standing on the periphery, a longing gaze captured by a long and lingering shot that never leaves his face, it is the “coward” and his portrayal by a rising star of an actor that captures the imagination here, and a performance of real maturity from one so young.

“Robert Ford” (Casey Affleck) A new recruit to Jesse James’ gang, Affleck’s portrayal of an outsider and an awkward loner always on the outside looking in is utterly mesmerising from start to finish. His nervous, shy ticks and traits are all present, but it’s Affleck’s looks and glimpses that steal the show, his eyes darting anywhere and everywhere to hide his shyness and his soft, trembling voice builds a picture of a young man desperately looking to impress his hero. A devoted reader of the now infamous annuals on the exploits of Jesse James and his family gang of bandits, Ford is desperate to ingratiate himself with the gang’s famous leader and his lifelong hero. His desperation to be a part of the gang and close to his hero is set from the very beginning and his conversation with Jesse’s older brother when he admits “Folks sometimes take me for a nincompoop on account of the shabby first impression”. Despite nincompoop being my favourite word, this in no way prejudices my scant choice of wonderful dialogue from this film. Oh ok, just a little! But the scene, and Affleck’s portrayal, is set early on, and the young actor never relents until the final frame of the film. A fully deserved Oscar nomination soon followed this performance.

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The above opening paragraphs are taken from my original spoiler free review I penned and published nearly a decade ago, transferred to my Medium blog site on 20th January 2023 and which can now be read in full and for free via my Substack blog site and original article linked immediately below:

https://ramblingmusings666.substack.com/p/the-assassination-of-jesse-james-by-the-coward-robert-ford-2007-31a26eb94a49

This spoiler free review is also integral to my 7 volumes of "essential film reviews collection". Currently only available as an e-book with all 7 exhaustive volumes full of multiple spoiler free reviews and priced at £4.99 per volume, however should you have an Amazon Kindle "Unlimited" package you can read each and every volume for free.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0C4HZSTTH?binding=kindle_edition&ref=dbs_dp_rwt_sb_pc_tukn

https://www.patreon.com/TheBlackfordBookClub
https://www.paypal.me/TheBlackfordBookClub
https://www.buymeacoffee.com/steveblackford

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