Brad Pitt's Favorite Movie He Was In Was A Western That Unfortunately Flopped

If Brad Pitt had to pick a favorite of all his of films, you might think he'd be hard pressed. From David Fincher's "Seven" to Terrence Malick's "The Tree of Life," Brad Pitt's best movies are some of the best of the last few decades. As such, you might be somewhat surprised to learn that the star has a clear favorite: Andrew Dominik's 2007 Western "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford."

This haunting exploration of the titular outlaw is about as revisionist as Westerns come, depicting James (Pitt) not as a hero but as a deeply flawed and violent figure. In so doing, Dominik examines our collective penchant for celebrity worship, mostly through Ford himself, as played by Casey Affleck. The young wannabe outlaw idolizes James but soon finds out his perception of this mythological figure is skewed and, as the title suggests, ends up doing away with Pitt's ruthless criminal.

Unfortunately, Warner Bros. thought "The Assassination of Jesse James" was going to be a shoot 'em up, so when studio execs saw Dominik's moody, revisionist take on James' legend, they weren't exactly thrilled. The film barely got a theatrical opening and was basically abandoned by Warners, only for it to mostly fade into obscurity even as it's fondly remembered by those who did see it. All of which was a damn shame, not only because the film is one of the best movies of the 2000s, despite being a flop, but because it happens to be Pitt's favorite of all his movies.

"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" is easily one of the best Westerns of the modern, post-"Unforgiven" age. While that 1992 Clint Eastwood-directed effort is widely considered to be the quintessential revisionist Western, those who have seen "The Assassination of Jesse James" know it to represent something that's perhaps even more powerfully subversive of the Old West legends. It helps, of course, that the whole thing was lensed in exquisite fashion by the great Roger Deakins, but there's also Brad Pitt, who delivers one of the best performances of his career.

It helped that the actor seemed to genuinely love the film, even when it first debuted and was being overlooked by pretty much everybody. In a contemporaneous interview, the actor praised his collaborators for producing what he viewed as a beautiful product. "There's a real beauty of this film that Andrew Dominik and Roger Deakins were able to capture," he said. "There's a real lyrical slow burn and it's really my kind of storytelling, the storytelling I love most, so I'm thrilled."

It's not all that surprising to hear, then, that years later Pitt considered "Jesse James" to be his best movie. In a GQ interview, the actor said, "I can turn out the hits over and over and I just — my favorite movie is the worst-performing film of anything I've done, 'The Assassination of Jesse James.'" Indeed, after the film hit just five theaters on opening weekend, it ended up making $15.3 million on a $30 million budget during its entire box office run. Still, as Pitt put it, "If I believe something is worthy, then I know it will be worthy in time to come." 

Brad Pitt is spoiled for choice when it comes to his best movies, but it's tough to argue with his pick. "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" is not only a great revisionist Western, it's a Western with something relevant to say about our enduring proclivity for hero worship even when those "heroes" are anything but.

What's more, while Pitt might consider it his "worst-performing film," "Jesse James" arguably did better financially than Pitt's criminally underseen 1993 thriller "Kalifornia," which Roger Ebert loved but which only made $2.4 million on an $8.5 million budget. Then, there's 1994's "The Favor," which made just $3.1 million on a $12 million budget. Perhaps due to Pitt's personal investment in "Jesse James," however, it felt like the "worst-performing" of all his films. 

Since their 2007 collaboration, Pitt and Andrew Dominik have collaborated on two other movies with 2012's "Killing Them Softly," in which Pitt starred, and 2022's ambitious mess "Blonde," which the actor produced. But neither were anywhere near as unforgettable as "Jesse James," which is why it's a shame more people didn't see the movie when it first debuted.