#1 The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)

So as my post from earlier on today noted, I began a journey through my unwatched DVD's and Blurays. I began with the 2007 film  The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.

Written and Directed by Andrew Dominik, who most recently made Killing Them Softly and Staring Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck as the two title leads. The film is about, as you'd guess, The assassination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford. The first thing i'll say about this film is it looked amazing. With cinematography by the legend Roger Deakins the film just looks fantastic, with a very small colour pallet and some of the darkest blacks I've seen in a film. It made the movie look natural and almost as if it was lit by natural light. There is a train robbery scene towards the beginning of the movie that made me sit up in my seat and mutter aloud how great it looked. I don't want to talk too much about how the film looked as I feel i'll end up spoiling it for people who haven't seen it.

 So I am going to jump onto the cast..and what a cast! With actors such Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck, Sam Rockwell, Jeremy Renner, Paul Schneider, Garret Dillahunt and Mary-Louise Parker just to name a few. With a few small cameos by other actors and a musician. The whole cast seemed to be firing on all cylinders and all just felt like they belonged in the old west in 1881. Both leads are fantastic to watch and at times awkward due to the tension that slowly builds throughout the film. The secondary characters are just as good as the leads with Sam Rockwell once again showing how good he is at playing the every man who's just slightly dumber then most and even Schneider, whom I couldn't really stand in Parks and Recreation showing that he can really act.

I don't want to talk too much about this film as I really don't want to ruin it for people yet to see it and if like me you've owned it for years then don't wait around much longer. Give it a watch and enjoy a long but enjoyable look back into one of the old wests most famous outlaws in the final few days of his life.

I feel like I should start a rating system if I am going to be watching lots of films. So here we go. I give The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford 4 out of 5 Stars. A beautiful yet slow paced film that may end up boring some but highly entertaining others, like myself.

****     that's the star rating by the way