True Grit

Title: True Grit
Year: 2010
Director: Joel and Ethan Coen
Lead: Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Hailee Steinfeld
Rated: Rated PG-13 for some intense sequences of western violence including disturbing images.

A U.S. Marshall heps a young girl catch the man who killed her father.

As we all know, True Grit has been done before; in fact, its been done twice before, once in print and another on film. We also know that Jeff Bridges was stepping into the hallowed role of Rooster Cogburn, previously played by "The Duke", John Wayne. Needless to say, the Coen's took on some difficult tasks with the production of this film. In my opinion, they succeeded at creating a very great western that is relevant in this day and age, and can easily stand alone for judgment against the original film. The Coen brothers bring a certain darkness to the film that is not present in the original, Jeff Bridges brings a certain grit, if you will, to his role that John Wayne didn't really have (I'm certainly not saying that JW didn't have grit, he just played the role differently), and Hailee Steinfeld is more rough than Kim Darby was in the role of Mattie Ross. Not only does True Grit have powerful performances, but it is a visual dream. The Coen brothers are very famous for the striking, memorable cinematography that they employ in their movies. True Grit is no different. What I really liked was their use of back lighting. I can think of a couple of scenes, specifically the scene where Jeff Bridges fires the shot into the mine, and when Hailee Steinfeld falls down the pit. Both scenes bring a literal and figurative darkness to the movie; an aspect that is all but absent from the original film. In Henry Hathaway's film everything seems to be cleaned up and somewhat comically cheerful. John Wayne is very clean, almost made up; so is La Boeuf's character. All of this cleanliness is gone in the Coen brothers film. The gravity of the situation is definitely felt; this is a movie about a girl searching to avenge the death of her father, and the audience knows it.

So on to the true review. This movie is excellent, the performances are strong, and the writing is great. Rooster Cogburn's character is very well developed, and we definitely can understand his punchy thought making process and tough demeanor. Mattie Ross's character is also more believable, I can remember the 69' version of the film where Mattie Ross smiles a whole bunch. I can remember that never making sense to me; this girl had just lost her father and wanted to avenge his death, she shouldn't be happy. Hailee Steinfeld does not smile a lot in this movie, shes more rough and tumble, and she isn't cute, which makes me move on to casting; its perfect. Mattie Ross is cast at the perfect age, in the book she is 14 years old, Hailee Steinfeld is 14 years old. Kim Darby who originally played Mattie Ross was about 20 years old when she played the role. Finally, this film is visually and audibly pleasing. There are many great pictures to look at and some great sound to back it up. This film feels like a true western, and like I previously stated, its relevant in this day and age. We live in a time where westerns are certainly not the norm, and for somebody to make a great western today is a wonderful accomplishment, it also adds a little bit of difference to a box office that is unnecessarily flooded by 3D, romantic comedies and vampires. Westerns are what made America, and the Coen's bring that inventive feeling back with their wonderful interpretation of a great book. I definitely recommend this movie, definitely check it out on the big screen. 9 out of 10