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The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is a 2007 Western drama film. The film is directed by Andrew Dominik, with Brad Pitt portraying Jesse James and Casey Affleck as his eventual killer Robert Ford. Filming took place in Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg. Initially intended for a 2006 release, the film was postponed and re-edited for a September 21, 2007 release. An adaptation of Ron Hansen's 1983 novel of the same name, the film dramatizes the relationship between James and Ford.

Introduction, Blue Cut Train Robbery (September 5, 1881)

The film starts off with the narrator introducing many facts and legends about the American Old West outlaw, Jesse James (Brad Pitt). Aside from Jesse, the film also tells the story of Robert Ford (Casey Affleck), a seemingly insecure young man who has grown up idolizing Jesse James and is often seen as a coward by those around him. Bob seeks out his hero in the middle of a forest in Blue Cut, Missouri where the James gang is staging a train robbery. Bob makes petty attempts to join the gang with the help of his brother Charley Ford (Sam Rockwell), who has been a recruit for a while now. Jesse allows Bob to take part in the train robbery to try to prove himself, but Jesse's brother Frank James (Sam Shepard) disagrees, saying that Bob hasn't the ingredients to become a member in their gang. The robbery is a success, but ends up being the last robbery committed by the James brothers. Afterward, Frank decides to retire from crime and settle east, leaving his brother to lead the gang by himself. Jesse does not mind Bob's presence at first, and begins to have Bob tag along wherever he goes. Gradually, Bob forms a complex love/hate relationship with Jesse, still admiring him to the point of obsession, but also becoming resentful and somewhat fearful due to Jesse's bullying nature. Jesse begins to acknowledge Bob's awkwardness and unusual fanaticism, and sends him away as a result.

Feud between Dick and Wood, Kentucky (September–October 1881)

The gang members have gone their separate ways after their last train robbery. From this point on, Bob still wants to get involved in the gang as he starts to familiarize himself with the other recruits, who often stay at the farmhouse of Martha Bolton (Alison Elliott), the elder sister of the Ford siblings. Jesse's cousin Wood Hite (Jeremy Renner) also stays there, and often uses Jesse's status to justify his bossiness towards Bob, to which Bob takes a great disliking. Wood apparently has a love interest in Martha, but Dick Liddil (Paul Schneider) frequently gets in his way. Dick, who is perhaps the most highly educated member in the gang, has a reputation for being a womanizer. During Dick and Wood's stay in the latter's home in Kentucky, Dick creates a grudge against Wood by having an affair with his father's wife, Sarah Hite (Kailin See). When Wood finds out, he forces Dick into a gunfight. Both fail to kill each other, and Dick is ordered to leave at once, so he returns to his home in Kansas City. The shootout is not shown, but later told by Wood.




Conspiracy (November–December 1881)

In exchange for a partnership, Dick reveals to Bob that he is in cahoots with Jim Cummins, an elusive gang member conspiring to capture Jesse for a bounty. Jim Cummins' character is never actually seen onscreen, but he is referenced multiple times throughout the film. Jesse likes to take to calling in on his old gang, stopping by their homes from one to another, so he decides to pay a visit to Ed Miller (Garret Dillahunt), another former gang member who is seen as thick-headed, shy, and very poor with words. Ed unwittingly gives away information on Cummins' plot. Thus, Jesse lures Ed deep into the woods and kills him, before going on a hunt for Jim. Jesse stops by Kansas City to bring Dick along for the hunt, and the two head to Bill Ford's farm, where Jim usually stays. Bill is married to Jim's sister, and is Bob and Charley's paternal uncle. At the farm, Dick and Jesse are greeted by Albert Ford, Bill's young son. Although Albert does not know where Jim is staying, Jesse brings the child to a barn nearby and violently beats him, further revealing his troubled and destructive mind-state. Dick stops Jesse to prevent further harm to the boy. Confused about his actions, Jesse weeps, and rides away on his horse to regather himself. Dick decides to travel back to Martha's farm, and in doing so conveniently apologizes to the Fords for Jesse.

The Shootout, Dinner Scene (January 1882)

Wood returns from Kentucky to the Bolton farmhouse in a wintery morning. While Dick is still asleep upstairs with Bob and Charley, Wood retells his shooting scrape with Dick to Martha and Wilbur (another Ford brother) in the kitchen. When Wood discovers Dick is upstairs, he rushes up the staircase to the closed bedroom door, and the now-awakened Bob and Dick prepare themselves for the imminent gun battle. After a brief moment of silence, Wood kicks the door open, and the shooting begins. Charley jumps out of a window to dodge the gunfire, spraining his ankle, and Robert cowers in his bed. After a few misses, Wood fires a shot through Dick's thigh, and Dick returns with a shot hitting Wood in his right forearm, knocking his pistol away. Dick, immobilized on the floor by his leg wound, raises his Navy Colt to finish off Wood, only to discover he's out of bullets. Wood calmly picks up his pistol and takes careful aim at Dick's forehead. It is then that Bob fires a bullet through Wood's skull, mortally wounding him before he can pull the trigger and kill Dick. The Fords dump Wood's body in the woods nearby and hatch a plan to conceal this event from Jesse.

Jesse then re-emerges one night to pay a visit to the Fords. During dinner, Jesse notices Bob's anxiety and forces Bob to tell a story. Bob then reluctantly recites a long list of similarities he has with Jesse. Jesse is somewhat disturbed by this, and in return tells a story about once killing a man who held a grudge against Jesse, explaining how Bob slightly reminds him of that man. Bob, now humiliated, throws a fit and miserably leaves the room, while Jesse and Charley plan a trip to St. Joseph, Missouri. At his home in St. Joseph, Jesse learns of Wood's disappearance.

Talking to the authorities (February–March 1882)

Bob's respect for Jesse begins to diminish as he realizes the nickel books about Jesse he had read during his childhood have little resemblance to the Jesse he now knows. Consequently, Bob talks with Kansas City police commissioner Henry Craig (Michael Parks), saying that he has information regarding Jesse James' whereabouts. To prove his allegiance with the James Gang, Bob urges Craig to arrest Dick Liddil, who has been staying at the Bolton farmhouse while his leg healed. Days after Dick's arrest, Bob attends a party held by the Governor of Missouri, Thomas T. Crittenden (James Carville), celebrating Henry Craig's efforts to finally rid Jackson County of the James Gang. To Bob's surprise, Dick Liddil has been released from jail and is now meeting with the governor. It is revealed that authorities aren't particularly interested in prosecuting Liddil; they're really after Jesse James. To save himself, Liddil has disclosed information about the James Gang's robberies in his confession. Afterward, Bob is brought into a meeting with the governor, and subsequently strikes up a deal with him. Bob is given ten days to capture or assassinate Jesse James for a bounty of $10,000, and is given further instructions by Craig's partner Sheriff James Timberlake (Ted Levine). Meanwhile, on the way back from St. Joseph, a weary Jesse talks to Charley about suicide. Charley then convinces Jesse to take Bob under his wing.

Impending doom (March 25 – April 2, 1882)

By now, Robert and Charley Ford are the only active members in the gang other than Jesse. He keeps a close eye on the brothers, prohibiting them from going anywhere without him. The brothers move in with Jesse to his home in St. Joseph, where they stay with Jesse's wife Zee (Mary-Louise Parker) and their two children. One night in the living room, Jesse invites the Fords to take part in the robbery of the Platte City bank. He re-enacts the way he'll cut the cashier's throat, and demonstrates this by holding a knife to Bob's neck. Jesse then gives a violent monologue about the way he'll execute the cashier and pulls away leaving Bob shaken and visibly in tears. Even though Jesse treats this jokingly at first, laughing in hysterics, he stops his laughter abruptly to embarrass Bob even further. Jesse walks out of the room while the Fords look at each other in concern, overwhelmed with the fear of being killed by him. It has become evident that Jesse has succumbed to derangement— his behavior becoming more erratic and unpredictable with every passing day. From time to time, Jesse even "prophesizes" Bob's betrayal. Jesse is never out of reach from his guns, and has proven this on more than one occasion. Even when he appears to be asleep, he can awaken at the slightest sounds. Given these circumstances, Bob decides killing him would be the safest solution. But even as Jesse appears inhuman in the way he acts, he explains to Bob about how problematic his behavior has become for him, and that he often feels helpless and at times suicidal. As a way to apologize for his actions, Jesse gives Bob a brand new pistol on April Fools' Day.

The Assassination (April 3, 1882)

On the day of the assassination, both Ford brothers wrestle with their task, especially Charley, who has long considered Jesse as one of his closest friends. That morning, Jesse goes out to retrieve the latest newspaper, and on his way to the kitchen for breakfast he throws the paper onto the sitting-room couch. Robert walks past and sees the headline: The Arrest and Confession of Dick Liddel. Terrified, Bob slips the front section of the newspaper under a shawl, then straps on his gun holster before sitting down in the kitchen for breakfast. Immediately, Jesse walks back to the sitting-room and discovers the hidden section of the newspaper. He sits back down again to stir his coffee while he reads, learning of Dick's confession. Jesse glares at Bob, and asks why this matter hadn't been reported to him. Bob excuses himself and retreats to the sitting-room rocking chair, panic-stricken, and Charley soon follows him to put on his holster. Jesse walks in to see if the two are ready for the trip to Platte City. The Fords prepare for the worst, but it appears Jesse is withholding his wrath due to the presence of his wife and children. Instead of scolding the Fords, he walks over to the window and gazes outside, withdrawn and hollow. He watches his young daughter sing peacefully in the distance. The morning wind howls faintly in the background, and all is calm, and the Fords quietly observe Jesse— who is in utter bliss, if only for once in his long, exhausting life. After some silent contemplation, seemingly knowing his time has come and accepting it, Jesse takes off his gun belt and lays it on the couch, as a final gesture to the boys, as he appears to surrender in the form of an indirect suicide. For the first time in his life, Bob sees Jesse gunless, and the Fords watch in bewilderment while Jesse turns around and stares at the portrait of a horse above the mantle, mouthing his final words: "Don't that picture look dusty?" As if assembling his perfect death, Jesse carefully sets up a chair under the portrait and climbs on top of it with a feather duster in one hand, making himself even more vulnerable and helpless. The Fords take this opportunity to draw their guns, and Bob, the swifter one, cocks his brand new revolver and fires a bullet into Jesse's head, killing him instantly, and the outlaw shakes the house as he plummets to the floor. Zee rushes to the living room, distraught to find her husband bloodied and lifeless. When she tearfully questions Bob, he denies doing or knowing anything before Charley pulls him out of the house, declaring it an "accident". The Fords run down to the telegraph office in order to wire the governor about the news. A brief montage then follows, describing what is to happen to the body of Jesse James.

Aftermath, Creede (1883–1892)

After the assassination, the Fords become celebrities and end up in a theater show in Manhattan, re-enacting the assassination night after night with Bob playing himself, and Charley as Jesse James. It seems, even to Charley, that Bob shows no remorse for killing Jesse. In contrast, Charley becomes tormented by the assassination. His cheerfulness that so well identified his humanity is unnoticeable in his voice anymore, and his stage performance only keeps reminding him of the man they've shamefully betrayed. Charley attempts to write letters to Zee James, asking for her forgiveness, but would never actually send them in fear of causing more pain to the grieving widow. Overwhelmed with despair and terminally ill from tuberculosis, Charley commits suicide by shooting himself in the heart in May of 1884.

After Charley's death, something begins to strike Bob. Instead of Jesse being remembered as a criminal and a murderer, he is now idealized as a Robin Hood-like hero. Bob on the other hand is openly shunned by the public and is branded a cowardly traitor, and threats from strangers are almost a daily occurrence. At times of anger, Bob dreams of visiting the families of Jesse James' victims, hoping to remind himself that what he did was not in vain, but for the benefit of the people. In a constant struggle to liberate himself from his ever-growing guilt, Bob gives in to alcoholism.

Ten years have passed since Jesse's assassination. Bob, as unlikely as it may seem, has prospered over the past decade, and now acquires a steady income working as a saloonkeeper in the small mining town of Creede, Colorado, still uncertain on what fate awaits him. He becomes romantically involved with a beautiful woman named Dorothy Evans (Zooey Deschanel), who would have long conversations with Bob in hopes of providing comfort to him. In the closing moments of the film, Bob is sought out and murdered by a man named Edward O'Kelley, who has developed a strong hatred towards Bob over the years. At the same time, the narrator ends the film with an epilogue, recounting that O'Kelley would later be pardoned, and that in contrast to Jesse James, Robert Ford would achieve no fame after his death.