Another possible inclusion in Oscar Balloon ’06, for perform- ances if nothing else: Andrew Dominik‘s The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (Warner Bros., late ’06). Based on a reputedly strong novel by Ron Hansen, with period- sounding dialogue said to make Missouri (and the characters) in the 1870s seem very strange and exotic. It’s apparently the first film Dominik has done since Chopper, which harbored Eric Bana‘s breakthrough role. As tabloid readers know, it stars Brad Pitt but also Sam Shepard (as Frank James), Sam Rockwell, Mary-Louise Parker, Zooey Deshanel and Michael Parks. Kinda sounds like Son of the Great Northfield Minnesota Raid, don’t it?
