The Silly Legend of the Notorious Jesse James

This movie departs from the so-called celebrant and legendary treatment given to cowboy crooks of yesteryears; the likes of Billy the Kid and Jesse James. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward, Robert Ford documents the cold, harsh realities of cowboy bandit life much the same way Clint Eastwood perceived cowboy life in The Unforgiven.

This dog-bite-dog; shoot-in-the back style of the anti-heroes is real. No drama, here. The west was full of cowards those days! In this movie, you can see how Jesse James, in his maniacal fit and fear, intends to annihilate all the members of his gang, one after another, just on plain suspicion and loose talk.

I felt the movie was absolutely verbose and drags. A wee-bit too long. It should have stopped when Jesse was killed. But no! It had to go on further until another silly killing - that of Robert Ford which is the biggest bungle in this silly freeze-dried movie.

Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck in the titular leads, are dull at best. See how they gloat! Cheeky too! Then, there are just too many supporting cast of the gang, to make the movie lose its focus.

This is not a really good movie to recommend unless you want to know the minute details leading to the demise of Jesse. Jesse was just one hard-core opportunist of a bandit and he was shot like a dog.No assassination,here.

Heartsong