I love the Coen Brothers. I should have learned never to be surprised by what movies they choose to make, but I was a bit surprised that they decided to remake
True Grit. As you all know, the original
True Grit was a John Wayne vehicle for which he won his only Oscar. Joel and Ethan Coen say that they have never even seen the original movie, but that the
book by Charles Portis, on which it is based, was a favorite of theirs when they were kids. So now we have a new
True Grit just three years after the Coen Brothers made their modern western,
No Country for Old Men. The new
True Grit stars Coen-Brothers' favorite, Geoff Bridges, in the John Wayne role of Rooster Cogburn, a stereotypical tough lawman of the old west. He is approached by a 14-year-old girl (Hailee Steinfeld) who wants him to catch the man (Josh Brolin) who murdered her father.
He sets off in search of Brolin along with a goofy Texas Ranger (Matt Damon). The girl is not satisfied merely to hire Cogburn but she wants to go along to make sure the job is done right so she follows them into Indian territory, where Brolin has joined with a gang of n'er-do-wells (Barry Pepper et al.). Bridges, Damon, and Steinfeld make an odd but entertaining threesome as they pursue their quarry. It's been a long time since I saw the original 1969 version of
True Grit with John Wayne in Bridges role, so I won't try to compare them.
Here is how the rest of the 1969/2010 cast compares role by role: Glen Campbell/Matt Damon, Kim Darby/Hailee Steinfeld, Robert Duvall/Barry Pepper, Jeff Corey/Josh Brolin. Dennis Hopper also appears in the 1969 version as a member of the gang. The new film version hews closely to the
original book in which the story is told through the eyes of the young girl. This new
True Grit is both very entertaining and has a wonderful manic energy that makes this one of the best films of the year.
What makes this a great movie is a rare combination of direction, acting and screenplay. Hailee Steinfeld is an eye opener. A child actor can make or break a film. Just look at how bad the young Darth Vader was in
Star Wars Episode I. But Steinfeld is amazing, helped by an amazing script which lets her say things like, "His depredations are at an end." There is a great vignette at the beginning, where she wants to sell back some ponies that her father bought to the seller, a Colonel Stonehill (Dakin Matthews, [played by the great Strother Martin in the 1969 original]). The back and forth between the girl and the Colonel is hilarious and gives a taste of both the stubbornness of the girl's character, as well as how entertaining
True Grit will be. As soon as Geoff Bridges and Matt Damon join the fun this movie is a joy to watch. All the characters speak in very flowery Victorian sentences, which are a bit reminiscent of the characters in
Deadwood, but without having "motherfucker" in every sentence.
Geoff Bridges, one of my all time favs, does a western spin on
The Dude to become Rooster Cogburn. He is great as usual, but you have to listen closely to catch his lines because they are so slurred and garbled. Matt Damon, almost unrecognizable here, is wonderful and funny as Texas Ranger LaBoeuf. Damon isn't British but he is becoming a very British character actor. Brolin also does a good job in the small role of the villain. But it is Hailee Steinfeld, with exactly zero feature films under her belt, who steals this movie.
True Grit is also an interesting as part of the Coen Brothers' oeuvre. Their movies are always interesting, but are often just a bit over the top.
True Grit is played as a straight western right down to the John Ford camera shots. It's a wonderful job.
True Grit will be on my Top Ten List for the year and is worth a visit to your local theatre.
I love the Coen Brothers. I should have learned never to be surprised by what movies they choose to make, but I was a bit surprised that they decided to remake True Grit. As you all know, the original True Grit was a John Wayne vehicle for which he won his only Oscar. Joel and Ethan Coen say that they have never even seen the original movie, but that the book by Charles Portis, on which it is based, was a favorite of theirs when they were kids. So now we have a new True Grit just three years after the Coen Brothers made their modern western, No Country for Old Men. The new True Grit stars Coen-Brothers' favorite, Geoff Bridges, in the John Wayne role of Rooster Cogburn, a stereotypical tough lawman of the old west. He is approached by a 14-year-old girl (Hailee Steinfeld) who wants him to catch the man (Josh Brolin) who murdered her father. 
He sets off in search of Brolin along with a goofy Texas Ranger (Matt Damon). The girl is not satisfied merely to hire Cogburn but she wants to go along to make sure the job is done right so she follows them into Indian territory, where Brolin has joined with a gang of n'er-do-wells (Barry Pepper et al.). Bridges, Damon, and Steinfeld make an odd but entertaining threesome as they pursue their quarry. It's been a long time since I saw the original 1969 version of True Grit with John Wayne in Bridges role, so I won't try to compare them. 
Here is how the rest of the 1969/2010 cast compares role by role: Glen Campbell/Matt Damon, Kim Darby/Hailee Steinfeld, Robert Duvall/Barry Pepper, Jeff Corey/Josh Brolin. Dennis Hopper also appears in the 1969 version as a member of the gang. The new film version hews closely to the original book in which the story is told through the eyes of the young girl. This new True Grit is both very entertaining and has a wonderful manic energy that makes this one of the best films of the year. 
What makes this a great movie is a rare combination of direction, acting and screenplay. Hailee Steinfeld is an eye opener. A child actor can make or break a film. Just look at how bad the young Darth Vader was in Star Wars Episode I. But Steinfeld is amazing, helped by an amazing script which lets her say things like, "His depredations are at an end." There is a great vignette at the beginning, where she wants to sell back some ponies that her father bought to the seller, a Colonel Stonehill (Dakin Matthews, [played by the great Strother Martin in the 1969 original]). The back and forth between the girl and the Colonel is hilarious and gives a taste of both the stubbornness of the girl's character, as well as how entertaining True Grit will be. As soon as Geoff Bridges and Matt Damon join the fun this movie is a joy to watch. All the characters speak in very flowery Victorian sentences, which are a bit reminiscent of the characters in Deadwood, but without having "motherfucker" in every sentence.
Geoff Bridges, one of my all time favs, does a western spin on The Dude to become Rooster Cogburn. He is great as usual, but you have to listen closely to catch his lines because they are so slurred and garbled. Matt Damon, almost unrecognizable here, is wonderful and funny as Texas Ranger LaBoeuf. Damon isn't British but he is becoming a very British character actor. Brolin also does a good job in the small role of the villain. But it is Hailee Steinfeld, with exactly zero feature films under her belt, who steals this movie. True Grit is also an interesting as part of the Coen Brothers' oeuvre. Their movies are always interesting, but are often just a bit over the top. True Grit is played as a straight western right down to the John Ford camera shots. It's a wonderful job. True Grit will be on my Top Ten List for the year and is worth a visit to your local theatre. 
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