Andrew Domink's film appears to be a western, instead, he uses Jesse James (Brad Pitt) to examine celebrity and idolatry within the outlaw's legend. James has always been regarded as a sort of Robin Hood, but Dominik's feature tears down the myth and reveals the homicidal behavior of the folk hero. Robert Ford (Casey Affleck) reads the dime store novels about James and aspires to see his name in headlines, just like the famous outlaw.

It is not easy for Brad Pitt to disappear into a role, in fact, that has probably been his biggest criticism to date, but it happened in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford. Brad Pitt is abnormally equipped to play one of America's first celebrities. He's been hounded by the paparazzi for