Mr. Floppy 05.19.08: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

Posted by Peter Bielik on 05.19.2008

Yes, it has a long title.

I don't usually comment on recent box office results, but I feel like it's an appropriate time to make an exception.

I may very well be one of the few people who are genuinely surprised that Speed Racer flopped. When I first heard about the movie and saw first pictures, I groaned. But after seeing all the trailers and previews, I started to really look forward to the film.

The movie's visuals are really something we haven't seen before. There have been many people describing this as a live-action cartoon and that's what this movie really is. And of course, it's a live-action ANIME film. That's a very interesting, but also very risqué project and unfortunately for the Wachowskis, their style is simply too much for mainstream audience to handle. And I just don't understand why.

It's just something you've never seen before from a visual standpoint. I think it's just fine that someone is still willing to experiment and try new things. You don't have to play everything safe. And that goes also to the viewers. Why not try a family flick that's nothing like the other dozen that were released in the past months? I mean, it's been some time since I was a small child, but there are certain movies appearing, that I'm just 100% positive I'd love if I was still a child. Speed Racer is one of them. It's visually stunning, it has absurd, but exciting racing scenes and an insanely childish plot to boot (and I believe this movie is too tight conceptually for that to be unintentional). Really, I can't imagine kids not liking this film. I mean, one time I've caught an episode of Samurai Jack on TV. It was so ridiculous, it looked as if the entire crew that made the cartoon had a more than healthy supply of drugs during the creative process. And kids watch it. Kids would watch and like Speed Racer.

I really hope the entire sex change deal didn't hurt the box office. Surely, people can differentiate from a person's private life and a movie that's made by that same person.

I hope Speed Racer finds some audience when it's released on Blu-Ray and on DVD.

On the other end of box-office success spectrum, I'm really happy that Iron Man succeeded in such a big way (I'm also glad that Robert Downey Jr. is getting rightful praise for his work at last). The trailer campaign and smart timing obviously paid off as the movie is obviously going to earn more than $400 million worldwide, which definitely wasn't that certain before the premiere.

Kudos to all involved for also making a good, fun and lighthearted flick. I'm happy that not everybody is trying to dissect the tormented and dark souls of every superhero available. We'll see that later this summer with The Dark Knight and what we got with Iron Man was exactly the right type of film to open this year's summer season.

With this out of the way, on to the main feature. I've seen this film just recently on DVD and was quite surprised how good it actually is. And I was even more surprised when I found out how little money it cost and how even less money it made.



Year of the cock-up: 2007

Budget: $30,000,000

Domestic gross: $3,909,149

Foreign gross: $11,092,627

Worldwide gross: $15,001,776


It's become quite a common practice for Hollywood stars to make smaller independent films every now and then to provide some change from the big films. It also shows their "artistic" side and how the things you see them do in the big blockbusters aren't the only things they're capable of. I wonder who was the first person to start this trend. Regardless of the answer, there are many followers of this recipe for making films. Some do it with greater success (Johnny Depp, or recently Robert Downey Jr.), some do not fare so well in their attempts to mix up their filmography (Bruce Willis).

Brad Pitt falls into the first category in my opinion. He always carefully chooses which films to participate in and you're pretty much guaranteed his film will be enjoyable one way or the other. A few years back, Pitt founded a production company Plan B Entertainment, which stood behind this project- The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.

The first thing that grabbed people's attention was the movie's unusually long title. It's basically a plot explanation provided to the viewer as the name of the movie. According to Andrew Dominik, the director, Brad Pitt had it put in his contract that the name of the movie was not to be changed. Dominik was quite a surprising choice as a director, since beforehand, he has only made one movie- Chopper (an Australian movie about a criminal of the same nickname, providing a break-out role for Eric Bana). And Dominik certainly didn't pull no punches in his direction, aiming for a three hour+ movie.

The casting process for a movie like this was crucial. Brad Pitt unselfishly cast himself as the iconic Jesse James. To his credit, Pitt has become a great actor over the years so this certainly wasn't a mistake (plus this casting move fit the film in another important way, which I'll explain later). And as the other important half of this story, Casey Affleck was cast as Robert Ford. Affleck and Pitt previously collaborated on Ocean's Eleven and the subsequent sequels, so maybe that played a part in his casting. The final two candidates for this part were Affleck and Shia LaBeouf, who finally wasn't cast because it was thought he looked too young for the role.

The filming began in August 2005, in Calgary. Filming also took place in other parts of Alberta, including McKinnon Flats, Heritage Park, the Fairmont Palliser Hotel, the Kananaskis area, several private ranches and the historical Fort Edmonton Park. The cinematographer Roger Deakins (who really is way overdue for an Oscar- The Shawshank Redemption, Fargo, Kundun, The Village, Jarhead, No Country for Old Men…) took great advantage of the beautiful nature at his camera's disposal and as a result The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is simply beautiful to watch. The historical town of Creede, Colorado was recreated at a cost of $1 million near Goat Creek in Alberta. The filming concluded in December 2005.

The original cut of The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford was nearly four hours long. It was edited down to two hours and forty minutes, its current runtime, at the studio's request. However, it did play at least once at its original 4-hour length, most notably at the Venice Film Festival, where Brad Pitt picked up the Best Actor Award.

Andrew Dominik was aiming for a movie in Terrence Malick's (New World, Thin Red Line) style, whose movies are well-known for their slow, methodical pace. Studio obviously wanted something a little faster and more filled with action, which was impossible to deliver, because there is literally no action taking place in the story apart from the opening train robbery. So the final 160 minute cut can be considered somewhat of a weak compromise.

The entire script, as well as Andrew Dominik's approach intended for the movie to serve as an examination of fame, infamy and celebrity status. And this is where the casting of Brad Pitt turned out to be a smart move. In this film, Jesse James is really like a variation on modern-day celebrities, although he is a much darker personality than today's tabloid favorites. A criminal whose temper is unstable, who certainly doesn't kill only if he has to and who is developing a strong paranoia as a result of his lifestyle is described and glorified in many stories as a rebellious outlaw with a heart of gold, who has the good values and steals from the rich, while giving to the poor. It's a completely unrealistic, made-up personality and Robert Ford presents a fanatic who grew up idolizing this non-existing person, while dreaming of becoming just like his hero. He desperately wants to have some of the fame that Jesse James has and when he is disillusioned by the real Jesse, he makes the only possible attempt at achieving his desired fame- to kill him. And who better to play a person being glorified in the media and built into a myth than a real-life celebrity? Brad Pitt is a great actor, but the general public only knows him from his big films and then, of course, mainly from tabloids who explore and exploit Pitt's private life, while at the same time being so full of assumptions, misinterpretations and lies, that they may have created a whole different person over the years. You never can be too sure about the things you read. For example, Tom Cruise looked like quite a class act throughout his long career, but his recent snapping has surprised many people. In his pro-scientology tirades, he looks like a lunatic.

The idea of fame, celebrity status and it's implications on both the people idolized as well as the people idolizing them is very interesting. It's treated with great complexity here and not only Brad Pitt, but Casey Affleck (who's maybe even better) as well delivers a terrific performance. His Robert Ford is a sleazy character that you wouldn't want anywhere near you, but at the same time, you have no problem understanding his motives. It's too simplifying to label this person simply as a "coward" and this movie does a great job of making us understanding this.

The movie was supposed to open in 2006, but because of the various re-cuts, the premiere date was continually postponed until September 2007. It received praise from critics, although it was a much more modest approval than the filmmakers probably hoped for. In cinemas, the film tanked and even Brad Pitt's star-power couldn't help cover the low $30 million budget.

Hopefully, the film will gain a following on DVD as it's definitely a story worth checking out. If you don't like long movies with slow, deliberate pace (this doesn't mean boring, like when J.R. describes a shitty match), you'll probably want to avoid this, but if the idea of sitting through a 160 minute character-driven western doesn't sound bad to you, give this movie a chance.





Well, who am I going to give the award to this week? To no one, I guess. This article is about movie flops and who is to blame for them. But sometimes a movie flops seemingly for no reasons. Maybe bad timing? Postponing the premiere? Weak word of mouth? Excessive length? Maybe all these reasons, maybe none.
Like I said, I hope this movie earns some respect and admiration over the years. It certainly does deserve some because it compellingly discusses VERY interesting topics. Really, how many movies deal seriously with Idolatry and its consequences?

Would Jesse James die as he did, if he wasn't well-known through the fabricated stories? If he wasn't made into a myth?

Anyway, the movie flopped, so it should deserve a Floppy award. So since The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford flopped, I hereby present it the Mr. Floppy award.

Here's a cool picture of the cast.



And a quotation by a thinker- "It's funny, you know. Civilization. We try to get as far from our roots, from our instincts as possible. We design and create countless useless things that draw our attention away from the primal instincts. But, and that's the funniest thing- these primal instincts are still things that guide us. We haven't escaped them. We are still their slaves. Killing. Eating. Sleeping. Reproducing. Those are essentially the things that guide us.

I mean, the entire society is filled with sex. It's a thing that's all private by the moral standards of this world, but it's essentially everywhere. It's what drives our world. The same applies for death and killing. It's everywhere you see. It's what everybody fears, but it's also what everybody wants to see. In films, in books, on TV- everywhere. The two sides of the same coin- the beginning and the end of life.

But we pretend we are civilized. We pretend we don't act like "animals". But our animal needs are the ones we all crave and desire. You can almost say, from this kind of perspective, that all civilization is, is one big, shiny, sexy, intriguing lie tied around the real world."


See ya.


- Peter