Jesse James

When I saw the very first image of this film and began to hear the buzz that it was an Oscar contending masterpiece, I was not in the slightest bit dubious. When I heard that Casey Affleck had been cast as Robert Ford I was positively excited. I had been following his progression closely, and since Gerry had been convinced that the boy was a star waiting to happen.

Although tired when I first watched it at the cinema, with a Bulleit Bourbon in hard, it left a very strong impression on me, and the performance of Affleck Jnr. in particular. I wasn't sure I was in the best state to absorb it all, and came away with the vague feeling that I'd seen something special without realising completely why.

Upon watching it again recently, its greatness began to dawn on me... The Oscars had come and gone - Affleck had lost out to Bardem and the film had lost out to both No Country For Old Men and There Will Be Blood. Three "westerns" with very different approaches, and, initially I considered Jesse James the slight inferior of the other two. I still maintain the P. T. Anderson film is the more complete work, but I have to say that this now outranks No Country in my estimations. And the reason for this is that it is just so poetic! It eats up the screen with endless beauty; an ephemeral sadness and wistful wonder that gives it a dreamlike quality. The performances are across the board brilliant, and Casey Affleck is simply in another league, showing a perfectly competent Brad Pitt how it is done. The detail, subtlety and underplay of his performance gives me shivers! Javier Bardem is certainly deserving of praise, but it is a classic case of a showy turn wooing the voters - be insane or handicapped and the Oscar is almost yours!

I realised that I had dozed through some crucial scenes mid-way through first time around, and was surprised to find just how much more I enjoyed the second viewing. It is coherent and wonderfully realised - patient and haunting, surprising and rewarding in equal measure. And as for its themes... The nature of fame, the nature of myth and the perception of cowardice. It has a lot of intelligent things to say about all these without ever labouring its point. The blur between being a "good" man and a "bad" man - doing what's right and doing what you have to do - superb!

In terms of watchability it is the best of the 3 "westerns". At least that's my feeling right now, it may change. That it came along in a year that was so strong is the only shame, as less people saw it than might have done otherwise. But it will undoubtedly be proved a classic as years go by. I'm already looking forward to seeing it again.