The film The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford from director Andrew Dominik wasn’t a hit when it was released in 2007, the revisionist Western has earned quite a following in the 15 years since it first came out. Appearing on many best of the year lists in 2007, earning two Oscar nominations (Best Cinematography for Roger Deakins and Best Supporting Actor for Casey Affleck), and with a remarkable cast that includes Brad Pitt, Sam Shephard, Jeremy Renner, Sam Rockwell, Mary-Louise Parker, Paul Schneider, and Zooey Deschanel, the appreciation of Dominik’s film has consistently grown—and for good reason.
2022 is shaping up to be a big year for Dominik as well. Dominik has his Marilyn Monroe-inspired drama Blonde, starring Ana de Armas, coming this year to Netflix, as well as his documentary about Nick Cave and Warren Ellis, This Much I Know to Be True, coming soon. Speaking to Dominik for the release of This Much I Know to Be True, Collider’s Steve Weintraub talked about The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (which featured a score by Cave and Ellis), about the long-rumored four-hour cut of the film, how long Dominik’s longer cut of The Assassination of Jesse James really was, and what Dominik’s longer cut of the film included.
Dominik says of this longer version: There was a three-hour version, right? 15 minutes longer than what it is, three hours. There was never a four-hour version that was any good, believe me. However, longer doesn’t always mean better, but Dominik states that not only is his three-hour The Assassination of Jesse James the better version, but so is another version that includes just five extra minutes. I think it’s better. Yeah, and there’s another version that’s five minutes longer than the release version that I think is better, and there’s a version that is 15 minutes longer that I think is better. Whether we will see this either longer cut of The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is anyone’s guess, but it certainly seems like Dominik’s preferred version should absolutely get an audience at some point.