Talk is emerging that one of the reasons the Brad Pitt western "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford" hasn't been released yet is that, much like the title, the film is too long.

Originally slated for this Fall, the movie was pushed back to early 2007 with several source February 2007 release date. Now, Hollywood Elsewhere reports that according to the studio no date is yet set for the film.

In fact one of the concerns according to early reviews of the film is that, much like David Fincher's "Zodiac", a test screening of Andrew Dominik's current near three hour cut has received strict criticism for being simply over time.

Other than that though reviews for the film have praised much of its content, citing its cast and cinematography as being exemplary.

Nevertheless, the dismal failure of this year's "All the King's Men" has put added pressure on critical drama films that run over the 2.5 hour mark.

Indeed "The Departed" & "Babel" at just under 2.5 hours looks like they'll be the longest running of this year's big awards contenders as most others ("Dreamgirls", "Flags of our Fathers", "The Queen") all look to be coming in at around two hours and in some cases less.