
08/10/2025
🎬 The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford 2: The Reckoning (2025)
⭐ Rating: 8.6/10 – Haunting, poetic, and steeped in frontier melancholy, this unexpected sequel meditates on legacy, guilt, and the shadow a legend casts long after death.
What it’s about:
Twenty years after Robert Ford (Casey Affleck) shot Jesse James (Brad Pitt), the West is changing—railroads cut across the plains, towns replace outlaw camps, and dime novels turn old gunmen into myths. Now in hiding under a false name, Ford is tracked down by Jesse’s grown son, Jesse James Jr. (Austin Butler), who wants the truth about his father’s death. As the two men travel together—one seeking redemption, the other revenge—they cross paths with surviving members of the James Gang, each with their own version of the past. In the end, Ford must decide whether to face the truth publicly… or meet the fate so many believe he deserved.
Why it stands out:
Retains the slow-burn, lyrical style of Andrew Dominik’s original film
Explores themes of historical memory, moral ambiguity, and the cost of notoriety
Casey Affleck returns as an older, more haunted Ford, matched by Austin Butler’s quietly intense performance
Roger Deakins returns as cinematographer, promising breathtaking visual poetry of a fading West
Highlights:
A candlelit conversation in a deserted saloon, where Ford admits he’s not sure if he regrets it
A tense encounter on a train where Jesse Jr. confronts an aging gang member who mocks his father’s legend
Final scene: Ford walking into the street at dusk, unarmed, as an unseen gun c***s in the distance