MovieChat Forums > The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007) Discussion > What is your opinion on Robert Ford?

What is your opinion on Robert Ford?

posted 9 years ago by biggacy4
11 replies | jump to latest

I did not have a problem with his character. To me he never really betrayed Jesse James in a cowardly fashion. Jesse was a very unlikable fellow to be among, and there was good reason to profit from his death. I would wish he would only receive the price money he deserved, rather than being scammed by the governor of Missouri. He then set out to legitimately put on a traveling show of a truthful portrayal of the killing after he was scammed by the governor. I related to him well throughout the movie. It would be hard not to be stubborn around a Brad Pitted version of Jesse James.

[–] ecvz 9 years ago

I don't think he was a coward either. People hear one line of the story ("he shot an unarmed man in the back") and scream "coward!", but I do think it took courage to do what he did. He felt fear, terror, sadness all throughout this ordeal, but still continued instead of giving up. That's sort of the definition of courage.

The most telling scene might be when he talks to the Richmond sherrif: "I was the baby. I was the one they made promises to and never kept. I've been a nobody all my life. I have one chance to change that."

I don't think it was his attraction to Jesse James that caused him to do this, but maybe the fantasy of being a celebrity like Jesse was, or maybe he wanted the bounty too (which he and Charley got screwed out of in the end, since they were supposed to arrest Jesse, not kill him).

That being said, his motives are unclear as far as history is concerned.

Both Jesse and Bob were flawed men. Neither one was a coward. Neither one was a hero.

[–] taran-rod 8 years ago

I felt bad for him seeing how retarded people were in the end. Feel not a litlle bad for Jesse James though, he totally deserved what happened to him.

[–] Gabe1972 8 years ago

And people who freely use the word "retarded", without respect to it's actual meaning, nor the stigma associated with using the word in the way some people do, or even using it at all in this day and age, are no different from the people they use the word to describe, and in some cases (wink wink) are even more of an ignoramus.

Yes taran-rod, I'm referring to YOU.

Time wounds all heels.

[–] taran-rod 8 years ago

Hmmm.... Retarded is to a certain degree synonym to stupid. Yes, if you cry the death of a felon and then bash a guy who really just did what he had to do, yes, sorry, you are stupid. I know that you really wanted to go smart on me but I used the term "retarded" for a precise reason and no, I did not use it out of nowhere. Wow, I actually bothered answering to this.

[–] shepardjessica-1 8 years ago

He was a sleazy dirtbag, just like his brother.

[–] paul-273-129025 8 years ago

On the one hand he was quite brave but knowing he was going to orphan those two kids left an uncomfortable feeling for me. I suppose he had no choice though.

[–] redban (6164) 4 years ago

But how many children did Jesse James make orphans? He was a violent guy, as indicated on-screen by the way he unnecessarily killed the poor guy in the train.

Yeah, it’s bad that Jesse James’s kids became orphans. But Jesse had it coming

[–] kwestmo (4385) 4 years ago

Any objective view of Jesse indicated he was a sociopath. That is what i like about this film; it clearly demonstrated he was no Robin Hood, but a thief and murderer.

[–] Gabe1972 8 years ago

My opinion is that the actual shooting was sort of cowardly, as he shot him in the back, but I have no problem with the fact that he killed him, as Jesse James was a murderous piece of you know what. People glamorize outlaws like this, but I guess they wouldn't if he killed one of their family members. Reality would set in at that point...the reality of what Jesse James was, which again, was a murderer.

I also don't really have much of a problem with Ford capitalizing on what he had done. After all, you have to do what you have to do to survive.

Robert Ford is okay with me.

Time wounds all heels.

[–] redban (6164) 4 years ago

At the end, I found Robert Ford to be 100% sympathetic. Jesse James was a bad guy, see the way he kills the guy in the train and attacks the kid later. And the movie made clear that Jesse James committed a ton of crimes before the events of the movie. You can imagine how many people Jesse James killed.

And lest we forget, Bob Ford was acting under the advice / instruction of the governor / police. There is an argument that Bob Ford was enacting justice. And if Bob Ford had not killed Jesse James, somebody else would have done so, probably.

Finally — people say Bob Ford was a coward for shooting Jesse James in the back. Yet Jesse James on-screen shot Ed Miller in the back, right?. If Bob is a coward just because he shot Jesse in the back, then Jesse is a coward for shooting Miller in the back too. Also, on the train, the guy whom Jesse kills was unarmed.

I think the movie at the end was playing on the way the public glorifies or scorns the wrong people. Jesse James did not deserve glorification, Bob Ford did not deserve scorn. But that was how things played out.

[–] MovieManCin2 (26342) 2 years ago

He was a coward.

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