The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James

This is, undoubtedly, the Greatest Jesse James movie ever made by Hollywood. By that I am referring to historical accuracy and not necessarily anything else. I was amazed at how they continued to stick to the historical data with only a few, and very few, changes for the purpose of "drama." Also, Cash and Kris made a great two-some of the James brothers. I've seen Cash in some other movies he made but this was his best ever. He had me believing he really was Frank James. And Kris is almost always good in his movies. And he made a fantastic Jesse James.

The movie plot deals with the final days--1877 to 1892--of the James brothers and the events that shaped and molded their lives. It goes an extra ten years after Jesse was murdered by the slime bucket coward "whose name does not deserve to even appear here!" And shows clear up to the day when the back-shootin' little gutter snipe was blown into hell by an American hero named Ed Kelly in Crede, Colorado. Certainly it could not have happened to a better piece of white trash.

We are all waiting to see what Brad Pitt can do. Now I am convinced he will really have to be FABULOUS to beat these two actors and, although I think he is a wonderful actor, I'm not sure he can even come close to The Last Days of Frank and Jesse James.

This made for television movie stars some real life Highwaymen. Johnny Cash as Frank James. Kris Kristofferson as Jesse James. A guest appearance by Willie Nelson as General Shelby.

It begins with Jesse James being gunned down by the coward Robert Ford. Just at a time when the James boys were calming down a little after a life of crime.

Frank went for an easy family life and put his outlaw days behind him. Jesse James was not yet ready for pipes and slippers.

After his death, Ford earns notoriety as he recounts on stage just how he got to kill the famous outlaw. Brother Frank is out for revenge but he needs to deal with a court matter first.

The movie is a small scale drama than a western. The script is no great shakes. It is an anodyne affair. The cast of real life country and western legends gives it some interest.

Of all the western outlaws, Jesse James and Billy the Kid have been the most filmed, but Billy the Kid has been in the much better movies ("Dirty Little Billy", "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid"). Most of the films about Jesse and Frank James have been B westerns at best, with only the occasional better than average film ("The Long Riders").

Jesse James has been played by just about everyone, including Tyrone Power (1939), Roy Rogers (1941), Clayton Moore (1947), Audie Murphy ( 1950 and 1969), Macdonald Carey (1951), Lee van Cleef (1954), Wendell Corey (1959), Robert Duvall (1972), James Keach (1980), Kris Kristofferson (1986), Rob Lowe (1994), J.D. Souther (1999), Colin Farrell (2001), and Brad Pitt (2007). My personal preference was Tyronne Power.

Frank James has been played by many notable actors, including Henry Fonda (1939), Jeffrey Hunter (1957), Stacy Keach (1980), Bill Paxton (1994), Leonard Nimoy (1995), Gabriel Macht (2001), and Sam Shepherd (2007). My personal favorite was Henry Fonda.

This made for TV film stars features well known singers – Kris Kristoferson as Jesse James, Johnny Cash as Frank James, and Willie Nelson as General Jo Shelby. The producers would have been better off to make a concert than a film. None of the three singers are known for their acting abilities, although on occasion each of them has turned in a good performance – Nelson in "Barbarosa" (1982), Kristofferson in "Pat Garrett…" (1973) and Cash in "Walk the Line" (2005). But none of them is very entertaining, and there is very little chemistry.

The direction is heavy and there isn't much action. The photography is OK as are the costumes, but when merely OK. Interestingly enough I didn't find the soundtrack entertaining.

Bottom line – a forgettable film.

I have no ideal what these other reviews are talking about, they must have never looked into the real life of Jess and Frank James. The move is somewhat in line with what happen, but no where near the truth. Franks wasn't even no where near Bob Ford when he got shoot.

As for as the actors, please, who in the world would pay good money to the worst actor in the world (Kris Kristofferson) in a movie. I love Johnny Cash as a singer, but please once again, now way these two should ever share a screen together.

Do yourself a favor, when this movie comes on run, don't walk, to anywhere, just as long as you get far far away from this stink bomb.

Before seeing this made-for-TV movie on a cheap double DVD purchased recently, I had never heard of "The Last Day of Frank and Jesse James". To be honest, I bought the set for the first movie, "Young Guns". This is a surprisingly fine motion picture. Well written with far more attention to historic detail in firearms, clothing and even saddles than I would have expected, excellent writing and fine acting from all involved. It is quite a feat of film-making to create suspense that keeps the viewer on the edge of his seat when that viewer knows precisely what is about to happen. The women in the story, in particular June Carter Cash and the two wives are superb in what might have been mere window dressing in a lesser movie. The simple music, using the folk song, is totally appropriate. This is a fine and moving production well worth seeing more than once. PS: I will confess that Frank James, wonderfully portrayed here by Cash, is of a personal interest to me since my legal father claimed that as a child he had seen Frank James in Detroit circa 1910.