Assasination of jesse James

[james1985]

saw this last night - fantastic! Great performance from brad Pitt and the two and a half hours fly by. really recommend it

[Mike]

Assassination ? I don't think you can assassinate a criminal. Isn't that word saved for people with some dignity.

defines "to assassinate":
. . . to murder [a prominent person] by surprise attack, as for political reasons;

The action of assassinating; the taking the life of any one by treacherous violence, esp. by a hired emissary, or one who has taken upon him to execute the deed.

As much as the movies would like to paint him a hero, wasn't he a murdering bank robber. Oh, yes he was. A poor misunderstood bank robber who really didn't mean to kill. Wikopedia: "Jesse deliberately shot a bystander student of William Jewell College", and during a robbery of the Daviess County Savings Association in Gallatin, Missouri, he shot and killed the cashier. He became such a public figure that the stupid politicians, (even in those days) almost granted him amnesty. Politicians still cave to public pressure and polls. Murder is murder whether its a bank cashier a student on the street or a 7-11 clerk. I hope this isn't a pure glorification of the legend. Does it show him as the good here, super cowboy guy or does it get into at all some of the bad things he did to innocent people? Does it show the bad things that happened to his family to justify the bad things he did ?

Saying that, I love a good movie, even a good cowboy one. Can't count how many times I've seen Tombstone and so on. Just something about a man who can beat up on a guy for looking at him the wrong way No really it's about the freedom of the wild west really. Riding those horses in the open country, that dramatic orchestra. Those were the days, no internet, no Wal-Mart, no toilet. You had kids for one reason, to work them day and night in the fields:) No, really, all kidding aside.

[james1985]

No, it does portray him as a screwed-up psycho! Robert Ford kills him because he's scared jesse will do the same to him, basically. And the film's pretty true to the history (or at least what I read on wikipedia this morning!)

[Mike]

Sounds like a good movie. Gotta get Eastwood into one more western.

[chris]

just to throw my two cents in...i'm not sure i agree that the person getting killed has to be a good, honorable guy to call it an assasination. there are prominent bad guys. aren't there? jim jones. pol pot. stalin. hitler. if any of these guys would have taken a bullet to the back of the head...i'm quite sure it would have been considered an assasination. just sayin'.

[mr h atom]

dang good movie: bit more of a flat-out drama/period piece than a 'western': reminds me more of great shows like 'unforgiven' and 'dances with wolves'...even 'open range', than any old fashioned western...

interesting that we get two really good westerns: this and '3:10 to yuma' back to back...and each, in thier own way, owes a huge debt to the variety of styles the esteemed mr eastwood (as well as others) has wrought upon the bland old western

[2 of 3]

Looking forward to the James movie.....though I must say, I thought '3:10 to yuma' was on of the worst movies I have ever seen...and I love westerns. Without giving anything away...I mean really...tie the guy up!!

[Mike]

Saw the movie recently. Pretty realistic showing how life was mostly rural living. Long, long horse rides to get anywhere. My gosh, we went to Myrtle Beach through NY, Penn, West Virginia, Virginia, North & South Carolina in under 15 hours and going at 70 mph plus most of the way. These guys on horses robbing banks going state to state, must have taken weeks. What a hard life that must have been. Not horse riding, that's fun, robbing banks I mean

Movie moved too slow for me, too boring. I saw parts of 3:10 to Yuma and I liked it better, more a typical western.

[james1985]

Looking forward to the James movie.....though I must say, I thought '3:10 to yuma' was on of the worst movies I have ever seen...and I love westerns. Without giving anything away...I mean really...tie the guy up!!

I loved 3.10 to Yuma!

although it was a bit annoying how he kept escaping