What I like most about this film is that it works well as a comparative piece. Director and writer Andrew Dominik made The Assassination of Jesse James a couple of years before, showing that he can master a three hour long epic. And then he made this, which showed he is capable of making a concise piece of cinema that has a lot of substance and character packed in and sealed tightly. It’s nowhere near as good as Jesse James but I think it works in its own way and it holds together as a solid film with many merits.