The defence The Auteur Devotee
“Patience is part of the point.”
Duration becomes texture. The film asks you to inhabit its world instead of merely processing its plot.
Back to trending 
Jesse James
Western · 1939
After railroad agents forcibly evict the James family from their family farm, Jesse and Frank turn to banditry for revenge.
Movie details
Jesse James
“Motion Pictures' Supreme Epic!”
1939 Western 1h 46m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.5 / 10
Community rating
After railroad agents forcibly evict the James family from their family farm, Jesse and Frank turn to banditry for revenge.
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Jesse James?
For the defence
The Auteur Devotee
“You watch the director, not the movie.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Adrenaline Seeker
“If it slows down, you check your phone.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
The Last Wagon
Western · 1956
When a handful of settlers survive an Apache attack on their wagon train they must put their lives into the hands of Comanche Todd, a white man who has lived with the Comanches most of his life and is wanted for the murder of three men.
Man of the West
Western · 1958
Heading east to Fort Worth to hire a schoolteacher for his frontier town home, Link Jones is stranded with singer Billie Ellis and gambler Sam Beasley when their train is held up. For shelter, Jones leads them to his nearby former home, where he was brought up an outlaw. Finding the gang still living in the shack, Jones pretends to be ready to return to a life crime.
Chisum
Western · 1970
Cattle baron John Chisum joins forces with Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett to fight the Lincoln County Land War in the New Mexico Territory of 1878.
The Comancheros
Western · 1961
Texas Ranger Jake Cutter arrests gambler Paul Regret, but soon finds himself teamed with his prisoner in an undercover effort to defeat a band of renegade arms merchants and thieves known as Comancheros.
The Return of Frank James
Western · 1940
Farmer Frank and his ward hunt brother Jesse's killers, the back-shooting Fords.
Yellow Sky
Western · 1948
In 1867, a gang robs a bank and flees into the desert. Out of water, the outlaws encounter a ghost town called Yellow Sky and its only residents, a hostile young woman and her grandfather.
Open Range
Western · 2003
A former gunslinger is forced to take up arms again when he and his cattle crew are threatened by a corrupt lawman.
Red River
Western · 1948
Following the Civil War, headstrong rancher Thomas Dunson decides to lead a perilous cattle drive from Texas to Missouri. During the exhausting journey, his persistence becomes tyrannical in the eyes of Matthew Garth, his adopted son and protégé.
Three Violent People
Western · 1956
A rancher, his shady bride and his one-armed brother fight amid carpetbaggers in Texas.
3:10 to Yuma
Western · 1957
Dan Evans, a small time farmer, is hired to escort Ben Wade, a dangerous outlaw, to Yuma. As Evans and Wade wait for the 3:10 train to Yuma, Wade's gang is racing to free him.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Henry King
Written by
Nunnally Johnson
Tyrone Power
Jesse Woodson James
Henry Fonda
Frank James
Nancy Kelly
Zerelda "Zee" Cobb
Randolph Scott
Marshall Will Wright
Henry Hull
Maj. Rufus Cobb
Slim Summerville
Jailer
J. Edward Bromberg
George Runyan
Court is in session
Put Jesse James on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Adrenaline Seeker
“A test of endurance, your honour.”
Stillness keeps submitting itself as meaning. At some point, contemplation needs something worth contemplating.