I have just finished watching the movie "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Cowardly Robert Ford". I'm really not sure how I feel about it, whether I found it pleasurable or not. The acting was marvelous, though I've come to accept nothing less from Brad Pitt over the years. I liked the number of cameos strewn throughout the film: a surprising show from James Carville, an unexpected two scene appearance from the illustrious Zooey Deschanel and, my favorite, Nick Cave himself. The narration seemed like it was pulled straight from a PBS documentary, I feel Robert Duvall would have performed better. Despite that there is something that I can't put my finger on. Something elusive that kept me from becoming totally immersed in the story.
I did enjoy the depiction of human tragedy; of how fallen a character Jesse James was and, as it turned out, so was Robert Ford in the end. One man killed because he had to and the other killed because he wanted to. I'll leave it to you to decide which was which.
I wonder a hundred years from now how will people depict our heroes and villains. Will our supposed enemies be pardoned for their motives and be raised on a pedestal to be admired? As well, could our figures of renown become denigrated, transformed into a hiss and a byword for the rest of time? It is our greatest wish for our contemporaries that they produce something to their credit that only time can reveal. It is the discredit to ourselves that we act as judge without the slightest part of evidence against the station of another.
