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Reviews
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007)
PLEASE, cut a long story short!
Having read all those articles regarding the god-like performance of Pitt and Affleck, and having slept last night to the brilliant OST by Nick Cave, I must say I exited the theater with a sour taste in my mouth. It could be those bad quality Nachos, but most likely it was the feeling that the movie I had just watched, missed a great chance of becoming one of my all-time favorites...I don't want to spoil an already spoiled (due to the title) movie, so I will be as abstract as possible.
First things first, the acting of the two protagonists is indeed brilliant. Jesse's eyes reveal a marvelous mix of lunacy, cruelty, tenderness and desperation, in a way only really great actors can deliver. Bob Ford, on the other hand, has everything a made-to-be-hated character must have. The creepy look in his eyes and the trembling voice, both demonstrating his awe and fear of Jesse at the beginning of the film, give way to a vile stare and determined outbreaks as the film progresses... Just brilliant!
The photography and music of the film also live up to the fuzz about the movie. Especially the score, by the hand of Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, is as lyrical and sad as it can be, almost unfit for a Western. A true requiem for a great man!
So, what is it that disappointed me? At first, it was the feeling that the director focused on the wrong details. I should be cautious with this criticism, since I have not read the book, but I really wanted to see more of Jesse's life, what civilians thought of him during his "career" etc, and less of the trivial stuff about his men's lives. Jesse James is the star here, not Ed Miller!
The second -and most important- drawback of this movie, is its length. There is no polite way to say it.. I got bored! And for a movie with such great acting to make someone bored, it must be REALLY slow! And it is! More than I could imagine! I am not against long films. I enjoyed the Lord of the Rings (even wanted more), I loved A Clockwork Orange, I liked Braveheart... But in those cases, the plot unrolling was constant during the whole length of the movie. In Jesse's case, it's not. Sunsets are great, snowy fields are nice, and long blank stares have their importance. But... This movie should last one and a half hour, to a maximum of two. Not more. That would be ideal, the plot would advance with a steady pace and people would appreciate a nice scenery, instead of saying "ah, nice, here's my chance to go out for a cigarette" (I actually heard that one!).
My 7/10 is mostly due to the acting, music and photography. It could have been an 8, but I can't rate so highly a movie I caught myself wishing to end...
Alone (2002)
Don't flame...
* NO SPOILERS AHEAD *
In general: "Alone" is a movie you won't remember after a month or so, but that doesn't make it an awful movie..
After watching the whole movie, I got the same feeling I had with the "9th gate": The movie needed 10 more minutes of plot unraveling, to explain/conclude some things. It seemed as if the producer run out of funds and had to finish the film in a hurry.
That left apart, the movie contains some very nicely done camera tricks (first person perspective, memory flashbacks etc), an interesting -yet not that genuine- background of Alex (the main character), and some nice acting.
Concluding: The camera tricks are not groundbreaking, as the ones in "Matrix". The plot is not even close to "Seven". No Oscar was nominated for acting in this film. Compared to some 5-star films, "Alone" is not much to look at. It surely is not one of the best films I've seen, but not a bad film either. 6/10 for me: slightly above average. Worth watching it on TV or renting it for 1,5 euros, but nothing more.