I will suffer many evils for you, my seventeen readers, but I will not go see "American Outlaws." I happened to catch Ebert's review of one of the worst films in recent memory and he brought up an old seventies Jesse James gem that I had missed: Philip Kaufman's "The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid."
Robert Duvall as Jesse James? Who could ask for anything more--except perhaps some more screen time. Every scene he has is filled with glorious "Apostle"-like energy, making this, quite possibly, the definitive portrayal of the man everyone loves to hate. But we spend infuriatingly little time with him. Kaufman is so fascinated with the post-civil war society that the man is a product of, that we lose sight of the man himself.
In truth this is really more a story of Cole Younger than Jesse James. We follow the whole James/Younger clan from Missouri to Minnesota as they attempt to fulfill one of Jesse's visions: robbing a great Yankee bank.
The script is brimming with intelligence and extremely detailed characterizations. Clearly Kaufman was more interested in Cole Younger's (Cliff Robertson) side of the story, and he tells it with a magnificent, ultra-realistic tongue. These characters are so real it almost becomes dreamlike. It reminds me very much of Sean Penn's recent film "The Pledge" in which fate plays such a dominant role. The persistence of life and the decisions we make have little to do with one another--sometimes we react before we even know what we're reacting to.
Frank James is interestingly depicted here as rather dim, following his younger brother's every whim. Duvall's Jesse is driven by hate--he's a real killer, with about as much time for remorse as he has for the ladies, which is to say, none.
This is back-to-back reviews of films shot by Bruce Surtees, and in both cases I feel his work is the weakest aspect. After such brilliant work in "High Plains Drifter" and "Lenny" I know the man is capable of greater things. "The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid" looks bland and ugly, which I suppose was part of Kaufman's realistic vision. The Technicolour doesn't help--all but eliminating any nuances in the closeups.
The James/Younger clan has never been depicted with more honesty. I don't know how historically accurate the actions are, but the characters feel like people you might meet, which is highly unusual for a horse opera.
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