The only thing longer than this title is the movie itself, which clocks in at a solid two hours and 40 minutes, but most of that passes by unnoticed and without too much pain. With a well-dusted and rock-solid cast, this impressionistic look at the final months in the life of the outlaw Jesse James (Brad Pitt, playing the criminal/folk hero as a paranoid, often-cruel and wise creature) before he was shot in the back by one of his own gang, a man named Robert Ford (Casey Affleck). Adapted from Ron Hansen's novel, this version of the Jesse James story casts Ford as his greatest fan, a teenage kid who read all the pulp adventure stories and the James Gang and wanted to be just like Jesse, America's first real celebrity.

The idea of being in the game wasn't that far-fetched, since Ford's older brother Charley (Sam Rockwell) was already a member. But the younger Ford was squirrelly and easily hurt when his hero poked fun at him. This is Affleck's breakthrough year, no questions asked. He's gone from being a strong supporting player in such films as Ocean's 11 (and its sequels) to lead actor in a single year. Wait a few weeks and check him out in Gone Baby Gone, directed by his brother Ben. He's even better in that film, but in Jesse James, he's no less hypnotic. The kid is a nervous bag of lightening that can barely keep from bursting out of his own skin. But once he makes the decision to betray his hero, he changes. I'm not saying the transformation is one that makes him more confidence, but it's clear that Ford must kill James off in his head as his lifelong hero before he can put a bullet in the back of his head.

But I'm not talking about the most interesting aspect of Jesse James, the exquisite nature of the filmmaking. From the sweeping yet sad landscapes as filmed by master cinematographer Roger Deakins to the eerie score by Nick Cave to the relaxed direction by New Zealand's Andrew Dominik (whose only other film was Eric Bana breakthrough Chopper) to the effective book-on-tape-style narration by Hugh Ross, this movie has the feel, look, and leisurely pacing of a work made in the last Golden Age of filmmaking in the 1970s. Terrence Malick's name has already been evoked by other critics, but that doesn't quite fit in my book. There's almost too much going on here for Jesse James to quality as Malick-esque, but strictly in terms of the look of the film, the comparison is justified. The infrequent punctuations of extreme violence are shocking to be sure, and they come in places you'd least expect them. But what's more shocking are people's reactions to the violence once the shooting is stopped. With one notable exception, there is no mourning among these people. Emotional pain isn't part of their makeup.

Once James is dead, the film goes on to show us what happened to Ford and his brother, and those sequences are just as exciting as his limited time with the gang. The film is filled with surprisingly solid actors is very small parts. Mary-Louise Parker (in an almost-wordless role as James' wife, Sam Shepherd (as Jessie's brother Frank), Zooey Deschanel (who doesn't arrive until the film's final 15 minutes), Jeremy Renner, and Paul Schneider come and go at the whim of the story. Some character arcs are seen to some kind of conclusion; others vanish without explanation, much like life. The Assassination of Jesse James doesn't feel exactly like life, but it captures the essence of a time and place that is probably best left long behind us but still worth reflecting upon in fantastic films like this one. Great as a narrative, a work of suspense, and as an artistic vision, the only thing this film doesn't feel like is a Western, and that's no failing of the filmmakers. Jesse James goes transcends the Western genre from the first frame, and I'm grateful for that. There's a lot more going on here, and you owe it to yourself to check it out.

-Capone
capone@aintitcoolmail.com