The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford

[Ghostboy]

Really? I really loved the way it ended, and the way it used the voice over and that final image to convey everything that wasn't shown. A masterful choice in my opinion!

[Gamblour.]

HUGE FUCKING SPOILERS

Are we talking about the shot where ol' Casey is in the bar and those two guys come in, say their line, and then a closeup of him with the narrator explaining how he got shot in the neck? If that's not it, someone remind me, please.

[Pwaybloe]

I would assume that's it, yeah. 

[Reinhold]

Spoilers

HUGE FUCKING SPOILERS

Are we talking about the shot where ol' Casey is in the bar and those two guys come in, say their line, and then a closeup of him with the narrator explaining how he got shot in the neck? If that's not it, someone remind me, please.

yeah, that's what i'm talking about.  the wording of the narration was beautiful, but it really would have been great to see. it was as though the director didn't trust the audience to see what he saw in the story, and rather than attempting it he copped out.

[Gamblour.]

SPOILERS

I dunno, I think it worked without seeing him get shot in the throat. The point was that his end had no glamour, and I think the setting of the place he was killed in conveyed that. At its worst, it's definitely not a cop out. It's a choice between showing it and not showing it, and I think not showing it works better for the story.

[ponceludon]

SPOILER

I loved the end. I love how the scene froze on the expression on Casey Affleck's face immediately before getting shot. I thought that conveyed so much about his character; it was such a revealing expression.

[jtm]

***SPOILERS***

sorry

yeah the end was perfect... when the last freeze-frame shot of RF came, i remember thinking; "yes, that's it! that's the last shot of the movie." i'd of been pissed/letdown if they followed with the actual death.

[Pedro]

JESUS CHRIST THERE ARE A LOT OF UNMARKED SPOILERS.

[pete]

it's a great movie.  I don't think it is that mindful of other westerns, as in, following or breaking down or, as they've mentioned in so many reviews, "deconstructing" western conventions...etc.  On the surface it does appear to focus on the celebrityhood of Jesse James vs. how he behaves in real life, but instead of the traditional compare and contrast, Jesse James actually becomes every bit as larger-than-life as his name suggests, just in different ways.
It seems more like a short story by Borges, or a slew of recent gunslinging short stories that I've read, where different things about the same subject spurred a different set of imaginations.  I particularly enjoyed the overacting - how certain guys represented fear and how Brad Pitt played his monster.  Charismatic monsters are always spectacular, and it's always good seeing Brad Pitt finding his footing in the crowd.  The tension between the characters had a real presence, almost as a character on its own.

AND Brad Pitt's jacket is out of control.

[Raikus]

SPOILERS

The major scenes of violence are all Jesse related. He pistol whips the train treasury man, beats up the kid and shoots Ed. Then we see Bob kill Jesse's cousin (as an ode to what he and Jesse have in common) and him kill Jesse.

It would have been out of place to show the violence at the end. The movie only reserved that for Jesse and Jesse' associations. It was almost as if Bob didn't earn the final act of violence to be shown.

[pete]

I agree that it's almost like bob doesn't deserve a glamorous death, but I don't agree with the more metaphysical assertions such as bob killing the cousin as an ode.  I don't think that's why Bob did it.

[Raikus]

Obviously the situation called for action and he reacted on that. The only reason I refer to it as an ode is that it was the last thing separating Bob from Jesse (in Bob's head at least). Bob compared himself to Jesse in almost every facet, except he had never killed a man. Bob thought that was the final piece that made him into Jesse James and it's why, after Jesse makes fun of his comparison to himself, Bob finally decides to betray him.

It's a point of contention, sure, but that's how I read into it.

[Reinhold]

SPOILERS

SPOILERS

The major scenes of violence are all Jesse related. He pistol whips the train treasury man, beats up the kid and shoots Ed. Then we see Bob kill Jesse's cousin (as an ode to what he and Jesse have in common) and him kill Jesse.

It would have been out of place to show the violence at the end. The movie only reserved that for Jesse and Jesse' associations. It was almost as if Bob didn't earn the final act of violence to be shown.

i think that his death could have been done beautifully-- the narrator never really established himself as sympathetic to bob.

i woud have preferred to either see the same end scene sans voice over or see more, still without the voice over. it really bothered me that such a beautiful film rested on verbal narration right at the end.