Andrew Dominik knows a thing or two about controversy and troubled productions, with the filmmaker’s most recent feature Blonde sparking plenty of backlash, and he did himself no favors by effectively blaming women for the polarizing reception. The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford was a lot more straightforward by comparison, but still suffered from its fair share of issues.
For one thing, Dominik – alongside producer and star Brad Pitt – were constantly battling over the exceedingly lengthy title and running time, with Pitt’s A-list status ultimately helping secure a theatrical release for all 160 minutes of the elegiac Western, despite several different cuts being assembled in post-production at the studio’s request.