Overview
A legendary outlaw's life comes to a tragic end at the hands of a jealous friend.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Slow
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Moderate
- elegiac
- brooding
- melancholic
- quiet evening
- slow cinema night
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the film as a visually stunning, literary, psychologically rich revisionist western, while some found its epic length and deliberate pacing excessive.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Jesse James's outlaw fame and Robert Ford's later public notoriety are central to the film's portrait of crime becoming legend.
The Missouri frontier is repeatedly presented through spacious, atmospheric compositions that emphasize loneliness and psychological distance.
Robert Ford's mesmerized admiration for Jesse develops alongside jealousy and a sustained plot to kill him.
The film reconsiders Jesse James's celebrity, cowardice, violence, and hero status through a literary and mournful lens.
Films like The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, and why
Unforgiven
shared revisionist western form, mournful atmosphere, legendary outlaw mythology, and meditative treatment of violence
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
shared poetic western imagery, deliberate pacing, loneliness, and psychologically complex criminal protagonists
Bonnie and Clyde
shared historical outlaw subject matter, mythmaking, celebrity, and lyrical period violence
The Long Riders
shared outlaw ensemble, revisionist western conventions, and interest in fame and historical legend
Movie Details
- Director
- Andrew Dominik
- Release Date
- 2007-09-20
- Runtime
- 160 min
- Rating
- 7.1 / 10 (2888)
Cast
- Brad Pitt
- Casey Affleck
- Sam Rockwell
- Paul Schneider
- Jeremy Renner
- Garret Dillahunt
- Sam Shepard
- Mary-Louise Parker
- Zooey Deschanel
- Ted Levine
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Howdy Amazon Channel
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford about?
- A mournful revisionist western follows a jealous admirer whose fixation on an outlaw legend turns friendship into betrayal and immortality into tragedy.
- What is The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford as slow, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford as moderate.
- What did critics think of The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford?
- Critics broadly praised the film as a visually stunning, literary, psychologically rich revisionist western, while some found its epic length and deliberate pacing excessive.
- Which films are like The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford?
- Films with a similar feel include Unforgiven, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Bonnie and Clyde, and The Long Riders.
- How long is The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford?
- The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford runs 160 minutes.
- Where can I watch The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford?
- In United States, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford streams on Howdy Amazon Channel.
