The James Gang

This was the second Jesse James film I ever saw. I first saw American Outlaws and realized that it wasn't very accurate. This is not a great film like Dances With Wolves or Tombstone, but is very good in my book. It shows a lot about what the former confederates had to go through after the war. The movie really shows the darker side of Jesse James and how passionate he was about what he did. Rob Lowe, Bill Paxton, and Randy Travis are great. But why do they have to change things like Bob Younger being a mute, their first bank robbery being in 1869 when it was in 1866, the fact that Jesse was shot once in the head and the second shot missed, and Bob Younger being shot by his brother Cole when he was actually captured with Cole after the North Field Raid. I believe that these things could have been changed and made a even better movie. Besides some other little things this is a fine historical movie and one of my personal favorites. If you like it see The Long Riders.

But other than getting the names correct this movie totally ignore history. The Northfield portion was ridicules. They didn't plan to be in Northfield, it was a backup bank. The Pinkerton's weren't there. Heck the fact is Jesse and Frank probably weren't even there. It shows Cole riding off after shooting his brother. He was shot over 50 times and Northfield, and 90 times in his life. He then went to prison and was released in the early 1900's He died of old age. Shot 90 time and lived. What an amazing man. The real criminals of the ear was the railroads. The killed and stole from the average folks. That is why Jesse and Frank were heroes.

The ever fascinating saga of Frank and Jesse James gets another treatment and a good one in Frank&Jesse starring Bill Paxton and Rob Lowe as the James Brothers.

I've seen and reviewed now three films about the James brothers and their gang, Jesse James, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, and now Frank&Jesse. It's interesting to me how similar the characters are in all the films.

Jesse is the hardened bitter outlaw who may have started with justifiable reasons on his outlaw career, but has taken to the criminal life and likes it. And it brings out the bad points of his character as well. Whether played by Tyrone Power, Brad Pitt, or Rob Lowe, Jesse is given the same interpretation.

As is Frank the charmer of the two brothers. Whether laconic charming like Henry Fonda or pretty garrulous as Bill Paxton does him, he's apparently the public relations man for the gang.

The characters of the Younger Brothers are brought in here as well with country singer Randy Travis giving an outstanding portrayal of Cole Younger. In real life Younger like Frank James lived to a ripe old age way after the action in this film.

Jesse is the king of outlaws, his reputation against fighting the railroads has made him notorious enough for Allan Pinkerton to be employed to take him down. Jesse is a wily one and after Pinkerton's nephew Tom Chick is killed in an attempt to arrest Jesse, it becomes a personal crusade for Pinkerton.

As much as I liked the rest of the cast, the best in the film is William Atherton as the dedicated Allan Pinkerton. He's determined to use any means to bring Jesse and the gang and I do mean ANY.

The wives have their moments also with Dana Wheeler-Nicholson as Frank's wife Annie and Maris Pitillo as Jesse's wife Zee. Pitillo's performance is hardly like the one by Nancy Kelly in the 20th Century Fox classic. She saves Jesse's bacon on one memorable occasion in the film.

Frank&Jesse is one very good western which should have received a lot more attention than it did.

You know, I always find myself tutting and shaking my head after viewing a film about the infamous outlaws, Frank & Jesse James. Not because of the quality of each film, which ranges from good to awful over the years, but because of the tired old statements about accuracy that scream out from critics both amateur and professional. I'd be screaming too if the makers of film's such as this one proclaim it to be " thee" true story of the James boys, but since no publicity about such things like "facts" was to be found, I was able to venture into a mid 90s Western with no expectation of historical accuracy and hopefully be entertained by a movie that follows more the myth of the men than the reality. And entertained I was too.

Frank & Jesse stars Rob Lowe as Jesse James and Bill Paxton as Jesse's brother Frank James. The story picks up following the Civil War where the two brothers, recently stung by the senseless murder of their younger brother, hook up with the Younger brothers - Cole Younger (played by Randy Travis) and Bob Younger (Todd Field), Bob Ford (Jim Flowers) and Charlie Ford (Alexis Arquette), Clell Miller (John Pyper-Ferguson), and Arch Clements (Nick Sadler), and start to fight back against the Chicago railroad investors. They set off on a trail of crime, robbing banks, trains and enacting stage holdups whilst evading the dogged pursuit of Allan Pinkerton (William Atherton) and his detective agency. But as Jesse's fame grows on account of an adoring public led by the press imagery of the man, so the gang get closer to being caught, or worse still, killed.

Directed by Robert Boris, Frank & Jesse was a limited release in 1994/95. Tho obviously a TV movie In all but name, it does however boast a more than admirable cast. Lowe, in spite of looking uncomfortable on a horse, looks the part and proves to be a good casting choice. His cocksure way about him fits nicely into Jesse's shoes, whilst the goatee beard steers one away from seeing the "pretty boy" actor instead of the character. Paxton is always solid and reliable, and no change here, with one naked bathroom scene an absolute delight. It's a scene that sees Frank meet his future wife Annie, here played by Dana Wheeler-Nicholson, and Western fans will note that that pairing sees the actors re-teamed after appearing together in Tombstone 1993. Of the others, Travis stands out as the most believable of the support rogues, while Nick Sadler quietly gives the best performance in the movie as Arch Clements. A fine young actor who can be checked out in the likes of Twister, Disclosure, Scent of A Woman, & Mobsters.

The writing is safe, if a touch too cliché riddled and hurt by some dialogue that doesn't belong in the time, while the action scenes are more than up to scratch. Notably a shoot out at Northfield, Minnesota, that's as good as anything in the afore mentioned Tombstone. Walt Lloyd does a good job with the cinematography, some nice hues used for the town sequences, tho your eyes may be dragged away by Mark McKenzie's score as it is unable to fully grasp the mood at times. But by and large there's more than enough here for the Western fan to enjoy. Unless of course you need a wall to wall history lesson in your Oaters that is? 6.5/10

An unsentimental and violent Western emphasising mythical conventions , starred by a good cast as the members of the band . Revisionist and contemporary study about famous outlaws : Jesse , Frank James and Younger brothers .This is a slight and plain biopic about Jesse/Frank James who ranks with Billy the Kid as the most famous of Western outlaws . Then Pinkerton detectives were hired by the railroad company to hunt down Jesse and Frank . Legend and folklore have cast him as a Robin Hood , a good boy forced by circumstances to follow a criminal life . ¨Frank and Jesse¨ (1995) by Robert Boris with fine casting as Rob Lowe , Bill Paxton , Randy Travis , Dana Wheeler-Nicholson , Maria Pitillo , Luke Askew and Sean Patrick Flanery . Yet another recounting of the infamous James (Jesse: Rob Lowe , producer too , and Frank: Bill Pullman , this performance fraternity acquits itself well ) , who the public regarded them as heroes , from Missouri to Minnesota . It is set at the end of the Civil War, Frank and Jesse James and other former guerillas who rode with Quantrill and Bill Anderson take the oath of allegiance to the Union. Feeling oppressed by Chicago railroad investors, the James and Younger brothers : Cole and Bob Younger , Bob and Charlie Ford, Clell Miller and Arch Clements take to robbing Banks , trains , ambushes , and stagecoaches attacks , including the fateful Northfield raid with Alain Pinkerton (William Atherton) sworn to bringing them to justice . This one deals with origins , exploits and the ultimate fate of the Jesse James gang is told in an enticing portrayal of the bank robbers made up of brothers who begin their legendary bank raids because of vendetta ; these are the following ones : the James , Frank (Bill Pullman) and Jesse (Rob Lowe) , Cole Younger (Randy Travis ) , Bob Younger (Todd Field) , ,Clell Miller (John Pyper-Ferguson) and Arch Clements (Nicholas Sadler) . Later on , the agents surrounded the home , believing they to be there , tossed a bomb and the explosion killed Jesse's relatives . It is believed that Jesse took part in his first robbery in 1866 when a dozen men held up the bank in Liberty , Missouri . A bank cashier was killed in the raid and a reward was offered for each of the James brothers . In 1873 Jesse and his band derailed and robbed a train on the Rock Island line . Jesse married his cousin Zerelda (Maria Pitillo) , who bore him two children . As soon as railroad agents kill their father and hurt their mother , Jesse James and Frank take up robbing banks and trains and seek revenge . Then , the Pinkerton Agency is engaged to bring the James-Younger gang in . At the end James is betrayed by the treacherous Ford brothers : Charlie Ford and Bob Ford . As Jesse retires his erstwhile friend Robert Ford shoots him in the back to get the reward . On 3 April 1882 Bob Ford , a new member of the gang , treacherously shot Jesse dead in back of the head in his home at St Joseph , Missouri . Bad Is Good Again. This Much Fun Can't Be Legal! Sometimes the wrong side of the law is the right place to be .The civil war made them outlaws. The people made them heroes

This is a laconic , deliberate , agreeable but slowly paced Western movie . There is a concentration on familiar rituals as the funeral , family reunion and band relationships ; but also on common Western rituals as train assaults , shootous , go riding and the spectacular robbing . It displays decent actors giving enjoyable acting , attempting not to make heroes of the boys , with a casting of known actors . The studio bought the rights to the James Brothers but changed some facts for psychological and family motivations , instead serving up a potted commentary on the conventions of the genre itself . The trump card here is the train assaults , shot in moving style and violently realized. It boasts a nice protagonist duo : Rob Lowe and Bill Paxton . And a top-notch support cast , such as : Randy Travis , Dana Wheeler-Nicholson , Maria Pitillo , Luke Askew , Sean Patrick Flanery , Alexis Arquette , Todd Field , John Pyper-Ferguson , Nicholas Sadler , among others . It packs an atmospheric and evocative cinematography by Walt Lloyd . And an attractive soundtrack by Mark McKenzie , fits magnificently to the flick . The motion picture was professional but deliberately directed by Robert Boris in average budget . Here Boris focuses on the subjects of brotherhood , kinship , friendship and about the territories taken wrongly by railway ; refusing to bother too much about historic events .

This James/ Frank retelling has been adapted several times , ¨Frank and Jesse¨ has a distinguished company of movies , each version gutsier and bloodier than the last , such as : 1939 recounting ¨Jesse James¨ by Henry King with Tyrone Power , Henry Fonda , John Carradine , Brian Donlevy , Donald Meek ; ¨The return of Frank James¨ (1940) by Fritz Lang with Henry Fonda , Gene Tierney , Jackie Cooper , Henry Hull , John Carradine , J. Edward Bromberg . Critics argued the best movie that had been made about the Younger-James brothers prior to this was ¨The return of Frank James (1940) , "in the historical sense it was also the least accurate, but it had a real sense of character truth". ¨I shot Jesse James¨(1949) by Samuel Fuller with Preston Foster , Barbara Britton , John Ireland , J. Edward Bromberg ; ¨The true story of Jesse James¨ by Nicholas Ray with Robert Wagner , Jeffrey Hunter , Hope Lange , Agnes Moorehead , Alan Hale Jr , Alan Baxter , John Carradine . ¨The long riders¨(1980) by Walter Hill ,the film stars four sets of actual brothers: the Carradines, the Keachs, the Quaids and the Guests with Dennis Quaid , Randy Quaid , James Keach , Stacy Keach , David Carradine , Robert Carradine , Ever Carradine , Christopher Guest , Nicholas Guest . And has been portrayed most recently in ¨American Outlaws¨ (2001) by Les Mayfield with Colin Farrell , Ali Larter , Gabriel Macht , Terry O'Quinn and ¨The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford¨ (2007) with Brad Pitt , Casey Affleck , Sam Shepard .