Just enough dark to see, how you're the light over me

Being done with finals signifies...kickin' back and doing nothing for a few days before heading back home!!

Between switching out loads of laundry, I rewatched "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" and was, yet again, amazed by this amazing movie.

It's an epically long 160 minutes and moves along really slow. Long scenes and the slow, precise manner of speaking of Jesse James (Brad Pitt) contributes to this. But, as one review put it, the movie "is a throwback to another time when films were allowed to be unhurried, when audiences trusted multiple story lines to converge organically, and time and place were evoked with consummate craft. The old is new again, and it has never looked so breathtaking."

It's the attention to detail that not only so elegantly crafts the movie, but crafts the character of Jesse James. More than anything else, we see an outlaw driven by insomnia and paranoia as the bounty on his head gains appeal for those in his gang. Paranoia, as it usually works, drives more people away than it attracts. We see the effects of this in Robert Ford, played so marvelously by Casey Affleck, as his childhood dreams of emulating Jesse James come crashing to the floor upon meeting him. Additionally, Robert Ford has grown up coating a desire to be Jesse James with attempts to be like Jesse James.

Ultimately, this is a slow-moving movie that climaxes in a tremendous ending, showing how Robert Ford fails to get the attention and fame he desires and loses a friend in Jesse after offing him. But every time I watch this movie, my favorite acting performance changes. The first time through, I loved Affleck's portrayal of Bob Ford, but this time I was mesmerized by Sam Rockwell's performance as Charley Ford, Bob's older brother. Additionally, I noticed the guest appearance of Zooey Deschanel as the singer Dorothy Evans who is Bob's sole friend after the assasination of Jesse. Though not a Weeds fan myself, MLP also appears in this movie, as Jesse's wife. But, seriously, watch this movie. It's tremendous from start to finish.