Maddox’s Helicopter Heaven

The Assasination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Long time reader of Aint It Cool this is the first time I have felt compelled to turn in a review of a sneak preview. I am going to keep this review as spoiler free as possible.

So last night I got to catch a special sneak preview of, “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.” This is a new western starring Brad Pitt and is directed by Andrew Dominik who also directed the wonderful, “Chopper.”

I went into this film with almost no knowledge of the Jesse James gang or the assassination of the legend. This film surprised me. The opening alone will grab you, with Roger Deakins amazing cinematography, Nick Caves entrancing score and a narration that is strongly reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick’s “Barry Lyndon.”

This is not your average western. This film is very dark, with Brad Pitt playing his darkest character since, “Kalifornia.” Brad Pitt doesn’t use a lot of words in his performance, it’s all looks and internal turmoil, he is truly mesmerizing in this performance, showing a more mature actor then we have seen before.

He is matched perfectly by Casey Affleck who is finally used to his full potential as Robert Ford. Casey Affleck plays Ford as a very vulnerable, fragile young man with a thirst for recognition. Hopefully this performance might break Casey out of his brother’s shadow. The rest of the cast is superb with a funny and odd performance by Sam Rockwell.

The cinematography is excellent. Roger Deakins turns in some of the best work of his career. He brings a dream like quality to the images that gives the film a fable like quality. It’s this quality that separates this film from other westerns. It has more in common with Sam Peckinpah’s underrated, “Pat Garret and Billy the Kid.” It has to do with living up to ones own myth and also how far a person will go to be famous.

But I see one serious problem with this film. A major studio made it. This isn’t a film for everyone. This isn’t, “Tombstone,” it’s not an action packed western. It’s a very emotional film. The action that does happen is quick and realistic much like a Sergio Leone film. This is a film for my father, a person who grew up on westerns and loves them. It has more in common with art house films and this might make it a tough sale for the studio, which will probably try to sell it as another, “Legends of the Fall.” I’m not saying that,“Legends,” is a bad film; it’s just that this is a much darker film.

Another problem is that the version I saw the other night was easily three hours in length. That can make any studio nervous and I’m afraid the studio will start cutting the film up in hopes of getting a bigger audience.

This film needs the three hours, much like Sergio Leone’s westerns (which were notoriously edited by the studios) this film is about anticipation and scope. I wouldn’t be surprised if they cut this film up but I beg the studio not to.

Basically I hope everyone gets to see this film in its current cut. This is the kind of film that will probably be passed over in theatres but will get a lot of recognition over time and will be seen as the truly great film it is.

Alex, good night.

Hi guli ! :D
Friday is my off day, very relaxing day. Monday thru Thursdays very tiring days for me working 10 hrs a day then Bradley comes in every Tuesday.. deadly tired.

Babel is a great movie. I watched it a couple times today.

Opps my hubby wants to watch Legends of the Fall..
BBL

em— (((clapping))) ITA!!!!

Tootsweet– so now we have another one to look forward to , our couple never stops. And we love them :lol:

ladyluck30—I first wanted to welcome you to our BAMZS fans at JJ’s and please keep on posting and now I am going to watch your video link…

OK—ladies one of the fun things we should do tomorrow is to share our favorite BAMZS picture…. I’ll start with my most recent one …Ohhh , trust me I have so many, but I need to dig them up for tomorrow… :lol:

http://s2.supload.com/image.php?get=03-20061031172119.jpg

Ohhh- Anna- thanks for the link. This man reminds me of the commercials re batteries, that keep on going and going. But, all this happened AFTER he met with his soulmate…. He really got a new jolt and it shows in every aspect of his life. I am so so happy for this family….

Goodngiht tabitha, we’ll be here all day tomorrow sharing our views on Babel and trust me we will wait for your posts. Later ;-)

Babel was an amazing film…I enjoyed the entire ensemble. My favorite (and most heartbreaking) story was the Mexican maid. She was wonderful and her situation just broke my heart. Obviously, I think Brad was good as well. I would be very surprised if he didn’t get a nomination for his role (at least).

Also, my theatre was nearly full as well…I found that a bit surprising due to the subject matter of the film, but that was nice to see as I’m sure it will inspire many discussions. Bottom line, we need to take more time to listen and understand what someone is trying to tell us.

aycaramba— That is great !!! My two sons said that they both watched “Departed” and loved it . Now mind you my sons constantly make fun of me because of my love for this family… Anyhoo, while they were talking about Departed and we were in the kitchen, I asked them if they knew who produced it…..They came up with all sorts of names and I finally said BP, they moaned, my oldest went “oh cr*p now you will never get over them”, and good old big K goes “mom what is your point”…. And as a dutiful mom, who doesn’t want to be too pushy ; I said” well have you heard of the movie Babel?” The response was, yeah but its not out yet. I told them that we were all going to see the openning tonight. They wanted to know what hubby thought after we watched it. Both of them will go see it after the OSU game tomorrow with their friends :lol:

I think you people are the best fans in the whole wide world.

Ladyluck 30- Welcome to this wonderful site. I’m a newbie too, I just started posting last night although i’ve been a lurker for awhile. You will find the regulars here interesting, intelligent and they sure know the facts and what they are talking about.

Which one is Maddox?

Well I am very sorry to say this ladies, but I was dragged to see BORAT tonight. What crazy sick humor. Hubby wanted to see a comedy, our seventeen year old son encouraged him. So we went and wasted our money. Tomorrow I will be seeing BABEL.
Guli, did your husband like BABEL as well? My husband likes Brad and Cate a lot, but he didn’t want to see a serious movie tonight.
Tomorrow is a busy day for me, but I will try to be here.

hi all, bye all

I’ve been lurking for a while after volunteerily removing myself from the thread (for the rest of the day), as usual great posts great people and a lot of 411 on Babel. it’s after midnight so it’s another day for me to start over. As i said I’ve been hiding here a while so I have to turn in, see you at the party. Glad so many of you got to see Babel and liked it

TTFN