FAQ

Bob Ford was apparently dead before he could utter what ever was going on in his mind at that final moment of his existence. Realistically, a person who has been shot in the neck at point-blank range with a shotgun would not be saying anything to the caliber of his "right words". Many viewers mistake these last lines rather frequently, as if they want to believe Bob spontaneously composed a spirit-freeing sonnet as he fell to the floor, and recited it aloud as he slipped away from consciousness. With that said, there really were no "right words", because he did not say anything at the time of his death. If he had, eyewitnesses would have documented it.

From IMDb's trivia section for this movie:

According to Andrew Dominik, Brad Pitt had it put in his contract that the name of the movie was not to be changed.

It's also the original title of the book upon which the film is based, and it's in keeping with the time the film is set.

Many uninformed viewers may consider Sam Shepard as a miscast by portraying the 38-year-old Frank James. However, a short description of Frank from the original text contradicts these claims:

"Frank was 38 years old, but looked a homely 50. He was 5 feet 10 inches tall at a time when such height was above average, and weighed about 150 pounds. He had ears nearly the size of his hands, and a very large, significant nose that seemed to hook and clamp his light-brown mustache. His chin jutted. His jaw muscles bulged. His mouth was as straight and grim as a hatchet mark. And he'd ground down his teeth in his sleep until they all were as square as molars. He was a stern and very constrained man. He could have been a magistrate; an evangelist; a banker who farmed on weekends. Rectitude and resolution influenced his face and comportment. Scorn and even malevolence could be read in his green eyes."

No studio would actually take the film because no studio would believe that it would make any money.