''Frank and Jesse'' (also known as ''Frank & Jesse'') is a 1994 American

biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curric ...

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

film written and directed by

Robert Boris Robert Boris (October 12, 1945) is an American screenwriter, film producer and director. Life and career During the 1970s and 1980s Robert Boris wrote or co-wrote various original or adapted screenplays and dialogues, either for TV or feature ...

and starring

Rob Lowe Robert Hepler Lowe (born March 17, 1964) is an American actor, filmmaker, and entertainment host. Following numerous television roles in the early 1980s, he came to prominence as a teen idol and member of the Brat Pack with starring roles in ...

Jesse James Jesse Woodson James (September 5, 1847April 3, 1882) was an American outlaw, Bank robbery, bank and Train robbery, train robber, guerrilla and leader of the James–Younger Gang. Raised in the "Little Dixie (Missouri), Little Dixie" area of M ...

and

Bill Paxton William Paxton (May 17, 1955 – February 25, 2017) was an American actor, filmmaker and musician. A versatile character actor known for his distinctive Texan drawl and everyman screen persona, he was a four-time Golden Globe Award and a Prime ...

Frank James Alexander Franklin James (January 10, 1843 – February 18, 1915) was a Confederate States Army, Confederate American Civil War, soldier and Guerrilla warfare in the American Civil War, guerrilla; in the Reconstruction era, post-Civil War p ...

. Based on the story of

, the film focuses more on myths of ''The James Brothers'' than the real history. It originally aired on HBO.

Synopsis

Following the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

, the two James brothers, along with the Younger brothers -

Cole Younger Thomas Coleman Younger (January 15, 1844 – March 21, 1916) was an American Confederate guerrilla during the American Civil War and later an outlaw leader with the James–Younger Gang. He was the elder brother of Jim, John and Bob Younge ...

and

Bob Younger Robert Ewing Younger (October 29, 1853 – September 16, 1889) was an American criminal and outlaw, the younger brother of Cole, Jim and John Younger. He was a member of the James–Younger Gang. He stood six feet, two inches tall and had d ...

, Bob Ford and Charles Ford, Clell Miller, and Arch Clements, begin to feel oppressed by the Chicago railroad investors. They set off on a trail of bank robberies, train heists, and stage holdups while evading the dogged pursuit of

Allan Pinkerton Allan Pinkerton (August 21, 1819Mackay (1997), p. 20; August 25 was the date of his baptism, which many sources incorrectly give as his birth date. – July 1, 1884) was a Scottish-American detective, spy, abolitionist, and cooper best known f ...

and his detective agency.

Cast

Randy Travis Randy Bruce Traywick (born May 4, 1959), known professionally as Randy Travis, is an American country and gospel music singer and songwriter, as well as a film and television actor. Active since 1979, he has recorded over 20 studio albums and ...

Dana Wheeler-Nicholson Dana Wheeler-Nicholson is an American actress and singer best known for her roles in the films '' Fletch'' (1985), ''Tombstone'' (1993), ''Fast Food Nation'' (2006) and '' Parkland'' (2013). She is also known for her roles on television series s ...

as Annie *

Maria Pitillo Maria Pitillo (born January 8, 1966) is an American former actress. She has starred in films and on television, most notably as Audrey Timmonds in ''Godzilla'' (1998). She also had a recurring role on the TV series '' Providence''. Early life Pit ...

as Zee *

Luke Askew Francis Luke Askew (March 26, 1932 – March 29, 2012) was an American actor. He appeared in many westerns, and had a lead role in the spaghetti Western '' Night of the Serpent'' (''La notte dei serpenti''; 1969). He also had a small but key par ...

as Lone Loner *

Sean Patrick Flanery Sean Patrick Flanery (born October 11, 1965) is an American actor. He is known for playing Connor MacManus in ''The Boondock Saints'' (1999) and its sequel '' The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day'' (2009), Greg Stillson in the television seri ...

as Zack Murphy *

Alexis Arquette Alexis Arquette (; July 28, 1969 – September 11, 2016) was an American actress and transgender activist. Born in Los Angeles, she was the fourth of five children to Lewis Arquette, an actor and director, and Brenda Olivia "Mardi" (née Now ...

as Charley Ford *

Todd Field William Todd Field (born February 24, 1964) is an American filmmaker and actor. He is known for directing '' In the Bedroom'' (2001), '' Little Children'' (2006), and '' Tár'' (2022), which were nominated for a combined fourteen Academy Award ...

John Pyper-Ferguson John Pyper-Ferguson (born February 27, 1964) is a Canadian actor. He has appeared in a wide range of films and television shows. His notable works include playing Sonny Hamilton on '' Hamilton's Quest'', Peter Hutter on '' The Adventures of Brisc ...

as Clell Miller *

Nicholas Sadler Nicholas Sadler (born 1967) is an American actor. Early life and career Born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, he was raised in Apple Valley, Minnesota, where he attended Apple Valley High School. He was accepted into the Juilliard School's Drama Depar ...

as Arch Clements *

William Atherton William Atherton (born July 30, 1947) is an American actor. He had starring roles in ''The Sugarland Express'' (1974), '' The Day of the Locust'' (1975), '' The Hindenburg'' (1975) and '' Looking for Mr. Goodbar'' (1977), but is most recognized ...

Tom Chick Tom W. Chick (born August 14, 1966) is an American actor and independent journalist. His most prominent TV roles were as Oscar's boyfriend Gil in the U.S. version of ''The Office'', and the hard-hitting reporter Gordon in ''The West Wing''. Ear ...

as Detective Whitcher * Mary Neff as Widow Miller * Richard Maynard as John Sheets * Jim Flowers as Bob Ford * Mari Askew as Ma James * William Michael Evans as Jesse Jr. * Lyle Armstrong as McGuff * Cole S. McKay as Sheriff Baylor *

Dennis Letts Dennis Letts (September 5, 1934 – February 22, 2008) was an American college professor, and later, in a second career, an actor. As the latter, he originated the critically successful role of Beverly Weston in the Steppenwolf Theatre Company pr ...

as Railroad C.E.O. * John Stiritz as Ruben Samuels * Micah Dyer as

John Younger John Harrison Younger (c. 1851 – March 17, 1874) was an American outlaw, the brother of Cole, Jim and Bob. He was briefly a member of the James–Younger Gang, a band of outlaws who also included the infamous Jesse James. Origins He ...

* Jackie Stewart as Governor Crittendon * Chad Linley as Archie Samuels * Rhed Killing as Stage Driver * Jerry Saunders as Northfield Teller * D.C. 'Dash' Goff as Engineer * Robert Moniot as Young Captain * Norman Hawley as

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

Preacher A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who Open-air preaching, preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach com ...

* Jeffrey Paul Johnson as Davies Bank Teller * Bryce Thomason as Reporter * John Paxton as Working Man * Elizabeth Hatcher-Travis as Woman on Train * Sudie Henson as Old Woman on Train *

David Arquette David Arquette (; born September 8, 1971) is an American actor, producer, and retired professional wrestler. Arquette's breakout came with his starring role as Dewey Riley in the slasher film '' Scream'' (1996), a role which he later reprised i ...

(uncredited) * Ron Licari as Townsman (uncredited)

Soundtrack

The music score was composed by Mark McKenzie and released by

Intrada Records Intrada is an American record company based in Oakland, California, founded by Douglass Fake (1952-2024). The company specializes in movie and television soundtracks, notably those by the late Jerry Goldsmith. Intrada was founded in 1985 by pro ...

. *"Frank and Jesse Suite" *"Main Title" *"Family Moments" *"Gentle Spirits" *"Tragedy At Home" *"Meet the James Gang" *"Marauding" *"Daring Escape" *"Frank's Despair" *"The Peace Ranch" *"Mountain Top Dance" *"The Lord is Callin' You" *"Northfield Battle" *"I Play Not Marches ..." *"Goodbye Jesse" *"Justice Will Be Served"

Production

The film is the second collaboration of director/writer Robert Boris with Rob Lowe after ''

Oxford Blues ''Oxford Blues'' is a 1984 British comedy-drama sports film written and directed by Robert Boris and starring Rob Lowe, Ally Sheedy and Amanda Pays. It is a remake of the 1938 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film ''A Yank at Oxford'' and was Lowe's fir ...

'' in 1984.

Reception

A negative review in the French magazine Impact magazine wrote, "Made worse by appallingly banal images, mediocre acting and a "vast" soundtrack heard a thousand times before, Robert Boris's film sinks further, vacillating between an epic depiction of the James brothers' legend and a more down-to-earth vision. Between the two, between the celebration of high ideals and sordid violence, it sinks. It sometimes sinks into the ridiculous when the ''desрегаdоѕ'', whose faces the whole Far West knows, authorities included, persist in wearing bags over their heads: were Rob Lowe and Bill Paxton no longer available when the director realized his film was missing a few sequences? Probably. He therefore substituted a few random strangers who call each other by the characters' first names."

References

External links

* * * {{Jesse James 1994 films 1990s biographical drama films 1990s heist films 1994 Western (genre) films 1990s action drama films Action films based on actual events American heist films American Western (genre) films Biographical films about Jesse James Drama films based on actual events 1990s English-language films Films about death American films about revenge Films directed by Robert Boris Films set in the 1860s Films set in the 1870s Films shot in Arkansas Trimark Pictures films Cultural depictions of Allan Pinkerton 1994 drama films Films produced by Elliott Kastner 1990s American films Films scored by Mark McKenzie English-language biographical drama films English-language Western (genre) films English-language crime films English-language action drama films