Build up to the well telegraphed climax which is, of course, Jesse James (Brad Pitt), getting shot in the back of the head by Robert Ford (Casey Affleck) while James (strangely) stands on a footstool looking at a picture of a horse...

"If you were to take out all of the dramatic pauses then this movie would be 20 minutes shorter. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for a bit of drama in my acting, but time is money: can't they speed it all up a bit?"

"Casey Affleck is absolutely brilliant, magnificent, fantastic. This is a whiney-winning performance from start to finish. A damfangled performance of a lifetime! Five Yeehars!"

"At last! A movie in which Brad Pitt doesn't take off his shirt. Oh wait a minute, he does, he takes a bath... Damn and blast his six-pack once more!"

"If any movie from the last ten years can be described as dusty then this is it. Gritty too. A movie with the common, unwashed, touch."

"Casey Affleck is simply head explodingly superb."

"I do hope that Brad Pitt wasn't hurt by any broken glass when he hit his head on the picture like that. Or did they use a head exploding double for that shot?"

"What was the name of the horse? The horse in the picture that Jesse James was looking at at the moment of the accidental-on-purpose shooting? I do hope it was something like 'Look Behind You', or 'Shot From Behind'. Oh the irony if that is so."

"Superb performances all round, but not a movie to want to watch in Smellyvision... One would not like to smell their arm pits is what I'm getting at. The dirty beggars!"

"One of the best movies in a while. The problem with good, worthy, movies like this is that they are generally more than a little dull. Superb acting, sure. Lovely, flowery, dialogue, box ticked. Just all a bit slow. Could do with some cartoon animals or at least a horse and cart race."

A strange ending in that Jesse James seems to invite Robert Ford to shoot him in the head. The build up to that moment is all skilfully done, and the danger is palpable.

Ford then tries to make a living by staging reconstructions of the assassination for theater audiences. Thankfully someone then shoots Ford or this movie could have gone on for another two hours...