In 1881, Jesse James (Pitt) was 34 and middle-aged. His career as an outlaw was slowing down, even as his legend grew. On his last big train robbery in Missouri, Bob Ford (Affleck) joins the James Gang. Younger brother of gang member Charley (Rockwell), he quickly moves to the inner circle with Dick Liddil (Schneider), Wood Hite (Renner) and Ed Miller (Dillahunt), as Jesse's sparky big brother Frank (Shepard) leaves. Over the next year or so, Jesse and Bob forge an uneasy working relationship, as Jesse discovers that Bob has revered him since childhood.

It's this hero-worship theme that makes the film so compellingly relevant. Bob's adulation shifts and changes as he gets to know the real Jesse's unpredictable mood swings and frightening bursts of violence. Then later, when Bob achieves his own fame, the overarching story takes on another layer of meaning. And all of this is played to perfection by the expressive, minutely detailed Affleck, countered by a kinetic, mercurial turn from Pitt.

In his script, Dominik never tries to create a standard adventure yarn, instead using homespun folk-tale narration (voiced by Hugh Ross). We know from the title exactly what's going to happen, and also that we may never know quite why. But that's not the point; this is a film about a group of men (the women barely register) locked together by forces they can't possibly understand. Jesse James was the world's first anti-hero who was relentlessly photographed and marketed to a public clamouring for more.

The film looks spectacular, with Roger Deakins' pristine cinematography capturing the textures of the landscapes, adding a soft-edged mythology that makes it timeless. Nick Cave and Warren Ellis' score is simply gorgeous, and the film is impeccably edited. Yes, it's somewhat slow and long, but it's never dull as moods shift suddenly and character loyalties surge and wane. Rather than gun-slinging action, this is a Western full of raw, sometimes unbearable intensity. And it's both eloquent and indelible.

themes, violence, language

3.Oct.07