Arriving on the coattails of our three-month vacation comes what, at first glance, may look like a Brad Pitt vanity project. Upon closer inspection, though, “”Assassination”” seems more like a stylistic outing for director Andrew Dominik, a relative newcomer whose only film is the little-known “”Chopper.””

But his latest story is the stuff of historical legend: A young and naive Robert Ford (Casey Affleck, Ben’s little brother) hops aboard gruesome outlaw Jesse James’ (Pitt) posse, only to discover that crime really doesn’t pay. Hatching a scheme to take down the larger-than-life man, Ford must overcome his own fears and become the man that kids a century later will read about a century later. Featuring all the breathtaking landscapes of a classic western (a treasure that has died out considerably since the 1970s), the story echoes something you could have seen introspective do-gooders Henry Fonda or James Stewart tackle back in the 1940s or ’50s. Yet this is a decidedly 21st-century western, with darker, more heavily conflicted moods and a more sepia-toned hue than its Technicolor predecessors. Despite its late opening, “”Assassination”” looks to be a good swan song for summer cinema, and an early triumphant blast for the fall Oscar race. Sept. 21.