It may not have won any Oscars, but if nothing else, The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford took home the prize as 2007’s Longest Title. This flick takes us back to 1881 to meet the legendary Jesse James (Brad Pitt).

Jesse and his brother Frank (Sam Shepard) run a band of thieves called the James Gang. Of the original crew, only Jesse and Frank remain, so they have to gather counterparts from locals.

Into this posse steps Robert Ford (Casey Affleck), a 19-year-old with aspirations to grandeur who worships Jesse as his idol. He feels he’s destined for great things and just wants the chance to prove himself.

Frank takes an instant disliking to the boy, but the “gregarious” Jesse allows him to come along on a train robbery. After that, he lets Ford act as his assistant for a while, a move that further fosters the boy’s fantasies.

However, these grand feelings don’t last. As the story proceeds, Ford sees a darker side to James and begins to fear for his personal safety.

Ford also discerns cruelty from an increasingly paranoid, suspicious James. The movie follows related threads as it leads toward its titular conclusion.

And the fact that the film’s title tells us exactly how it will end creates something of a challenge. As with flicks like Titanic or The Hindenburg, Coward lives or dies based on how well it relates a tale for which we already know the conclusion.

Obviously it can’t rely on a surprising ending, so the pleasure involved must come from the manner in which the filmmakers develop events. In this case, I think they do so quite well.

Granted, Coward won’t endear itself to the impatient. Not only does it run nearly three hours, but also it moves at a rather deliberate pace.

Essentially all of its action comes during the first act’s train robbery. After that it becomes much more of a character piece that examines the various relationships and motives.

Since we usually expect rip-roaring action from Westerns, the film’s style can take adjustment. However, Coward deserves the effort. Once the viewer settles in and accepts the film’s pace, it becomes an engrossing effort.

Indeed, it succeeds because it takes its own sweet time and doesn’t indulge in any shortcuts. Coward wants to paint reasonably complete psychological portraits of Jesse and Ford, and in that domain, it works.

These become “warts and all” portrayals that don’t focus on stereotypical personality traits. Jesse goes from loving family man and good citizen to cold-blooded psychopath with ease, and the transition feels natural, so we fully buy both sides of the character.

It helps that Pitt plays Jesse with both enough melancholy and bravado to make us believe him. Affleck also does nicely as the torn Ford.

On one hand, he remains the idol-worshiping follower of James, but he also displays the ways in which Ford tries to grow up and become his own man. Affleck brings out the character’s inner conflicts and turns Ford into a compelling personality.

Coward doesn’t try to tell us what to think. It’s the three-dimensional nature of its characters that allow that flexibility.

Just because the film uses the word “coward” in its title doesn’t mean we’re meant to view Ford in that manner. We get a good picture of all sides in this dramatic rendering of a sad tale.

The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.35:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. This release came out early in the existence of Blu-ray and it showed.

Sharpness varied from “pretty good” to “oddly soft”. Overall delineation came across as moderately appealing but I wouldn’t call this a particularly precise presentation.

No issues with jagged edges or shimmering materialized, but I saw some light edge haloes. Source flaws also failed to crop up at any point.

Grain appeared chunky and clumsy. Actually, I found it tough to discern the difference between grain and artifacts.

Westerns don’t lend themselves to broad color choices, and the palette of Coward stayed suitably subdued. The movie tended to mix sepia, yellow and teal.

Those selections restricted the impact of the colors, but they still felt mediocre. The hues came across as dull even given the choices.

Blacks seemed inky and somewhat crushed, while shadows became a bit dense. This remained a watchable image but it clearly showed its age.

As for the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack of Coward, it suited the material. Like I mentioned in the body of the review, the film didn’t feature too many big action pieces.

The train robbery early in the flick provided its most involving sequence. This meant it brought out the gunfire and other elements well.

Otherwise, this was a quiet effort. A few other gunshots used the spectrum in a positive way, and general environment seemed realistic.

Music showed good stereo delineation, and a little localized speech also appeared. Nonetheless, most of the time this track stayed low-key.

Audio quality satisfied. Speech always seemed warm and natural, and the gentle score showed fine clarity and definition.

Effects were concise and accurate throughout the movie, and the smattering of louder bits lacked distortion. This never became a supercharged track, but it didn’t need to be like that.

How did the Blu-ray compare to the DVD version? Both came with identical audio, which meant I docked the Blu-ray a little. No lossless audio on a Blu-ray – even an ancient one – means a lower grade.

Visuals showed the usual format-based improvements, but not as strongly as I might hope. As mentioned, Coward came out early in the existence of Blu-ray, and the presentation showed its age.

Add the fact the DVD looked very good for the format and this became a less than stellar step up in quality. I’d pick it over the DVD but not by a big margin.

While the DVD included no extras, the Blu-ray brings Death of an Outlaw, a 31-minute, 48-second featurette. It offers notes from authors Ron Hansen, TJ Stiles, Richard Slotkin and Ted Yeatman, historian Ralph Ganis, screenwriter/director Andrew Dominik, and actors Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck, Sam Rockwell and Mary-Louise Parker.

“Outlaw” offers some facts/history behind the characters and situations seen in Coward. It becomes an effective little overview.

The absence of extras disappoints, but the movie succeeds. The Assassination of Jesse James By the Coward Robert Ford gives us an intricate and thoughtful examination of historical events and characters supported well by some excellent performances. The Blu-ray offers mediocre visuals, generally positive – though not lossless – audio and an informative featurette. I like the movie but this becomes a dated Blu-ray.

To rate this film please visit the DVD review of THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD