Layin' poor Jesse in his grave

by RICHARD JONES

THERE can be few American Wild West stories as well-documented as the one about the outlaw James brothers. But how many of us realise that Jesse James, played with chilling menace by Brad Pitt in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford was a cold-blooded, psychopathic killer. He gunned down no fewer than 16 people.

New Zealand born writer-director Andrew Dominik's 160-minute epic starts in the late 1870s. Former Civil War Confederate raiders Jesse and Frank James (Sam Shepard) and their gang prepare to hold up yet another train.

Hanger-on Robert Ford (Casey Affleck) is a whining 19-year-old desperate to gain full membership of the entourage alongside his brother Charley (Sam Rockwell).

Bob Ford has idolised Jesse since childhood. Under his bed he has a stash of the cheap novels of the time, all of them with Jesse as their central character. These dime paperbacks were hugely popular with 1870s and 1880s readers and helped in the spread of the James brothers' myth.

Ford achieves his dream gradually as Jesse, convinced a gang member will ultimately betray him for the huge reward money, starts to eliminate those associates he regards as suspect.

It turns out Jesse has good reason for his suspicions.

Unbeknown to him gang member and ladies man Dick Liddil (Paul Schneider) as well as Bob Ford have held talks with the Missouri Governor. Those two are keen to get their hands on some, if not all, of the substantial reward money.

Eventually in the small Missouri town where Jesse is living with his wife and two children as "Mr Thomas Howard" there's only the outlaw and the two Ford brothers left.

Dominik has no surprise ending for us. The lengthy film title has told all, but what life has in store for Robert Ford after Jesse's demise is certainly a surprise.

10 January 2008

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j james

Brad Pitt as the outlaw Jesse James.

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