Friday Film Flop

Well, ye socks, the busy social calendar had an amazing lack of engagements for a typical Friday night in this little corner of heaven.

So, I decided to take advantage of that situation and watch one of the DVD's that arrived at my doorstep courtesy of Blockbuster.com:

"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford."

What a waste of time it turned out to be.

A lot of time. 2 hours and 40 minutes to be specific.

I probably should have been prepared for a long, drawn-out flick given the length of the title itself.

Someone should talk to the producers of this film about EDITING.

So, why didn't I like it?

Well, probably because I like classic Westerns. And, this is more of an "anti-Western." None of the romance and heroism I look for in the genre.

It was, no doubt, historically accurate. There were no cowboy hats, for example. And, it was set in Missouri where James and his cronies actually lived. But, that meant no breathtaking Western backdrops.

The title characters failed to live up to their billing. Brad Pitt's portrayal of Jesse James as a person who liked to play mind games was, at times, uncomfortable to watch. And, Casey Affleck's version of Robert Ford was anything but cowardly. I guess this is just the latest example of Hollywood looking to rewrite historic episodes, hoping the twists and distortions will be enough to drive folks into theaters or rent the DVD.

Maybe, all of this started with Jesse James, after all?

I mean, the movie didn't end with Ford killing the outlaw. Rather it dragged on and on, following the "assassin's" career and the American public's peculiar fascination with the James myth.

If that is the case, then this film was a parody of itself, in which case (I suppose) it somewhat redeems itself.

But, not by much.