Jesse James is a pivotal figure in post-Civil War American legend, and I never tire of seeing more takes on the man.  And tireless is what you must be to sit through this movie.  At two hours and forty minutes, it’s nearly an hour longer than it needs to be.  The movie is littered with needlessly long scenes, excruciating pauses, and other pointless waiting around that a ruthless editor would have sliced out for the sake of pacing.

But, if you’re willing to wait it out, the movie is rewarding in a number of ways.  It is visually gorgeous, even with the desolate scenery.  The characterization is spot on.  Brad Pitt does a remarkably decent job of portraying the charismatic but mildly insane Jesse James.  Casey Affleck brings an odd kind of tremulous obsession to Robert Ford.  The supporting cast is razor sharp as well.

The movie largely portrays Jesse’s end as the birth of American celebrity culture.  Ford is the obsessed fan of the James Gang, having read the nickel novels which exalted James’ alleged exploits and helped forge the legend.  In one interesting scene, Jesse out right tells Robert that the books are lies.  Robert doesn’t seem to care.

There is a limitation to this theme’s ability to hold the movie together, and so there is anonymous narration, more akin to a Ken Burns documentary than a typical movie.  And the movie explores characters’ thoughts and deeds through the narration in a way that only a book can really do.  In that sense, the narration pulls us out of the story and we’re left wondering exactly what it is we are watching.  Is it a documentary or fiction?  Both, really, which again feeds into the whole theme of celebrity culture.  Jesse tells us the stories about him are lies.  Is the story we’re watching itself one of those lies?

It’s a brilliant construct, but one which seems to rob the movie of much-needed momentum.  The movie is scarce on action, which is surprising for a movie about the most celebrated gangster of the 19th century.  Jesse rarely fires his weapon, and we see only the one train robbery.  This isn’t an action movie, but a character study.  The contrast between Robert, portrayed as a nervous fan wanting to be Jesse (rather than be like him), and Jesse is the central element of the movie.  If you find the characters interesting, you’ll enjoy the movie.

Overall, The Assassination of Jesse James is a worthy, if flawed, contribution to the western genre, even if it does fill a rather narrow niche.  It is certainly worthy of a careful viewing by those who enjoy the Jesse James mythography.