Just Like Jesse James

Oh, who can forget Cher's song Just Like Jesse James? Well, mostly everybody other than my sister and I and possibly a handful of gay men who still love Cher. However, this is not a blog about Cher but rather it's about one of the greatest movies I've seen in a long time, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. It's not released quite yet, I went to a screening last night, and I just want to tell all three of you who may be reading this blog to go see this movie when it opens. I don't want to go into a lengthy review of the film, but I just want to state that it is a beautiful, fascinating film. This is the writer/director's first film which is crazy! The cinematography by one of the greats, Roger Deakins, is amazing. There are wonderful acting performances: Casey Affleck is awesome, who knew? Sam Rockwell, also great. I was about to list the actors but the list would be too long, they are all really top notch in this film. My husband and I walked out of it absolutely inspired, but as we're leaving we heard people in the lobby complaining about how long it was. We live in an increasingly dumbed down society of people with short attention spans. People want watered-down, safe entertainment. I understand sometimes wanting a fun night of being entertained at the movies, but that doesn't mean it needs to be brainless fun. Too many movie companies now feed the masses mindless fluff, we should be thrilled when a film is released that has thought, complexity, sensitivity and passion; people have forgotten that film is an art form.