THE PLOT
14 year old Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) is seeking retribution for the cold blooded murder of her father at the hands of Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin). The precocious teen sets out to hire a U.S. Marshal to track down Chaney, a man who is tenacious, ruthless; enter Rooster Cogburn, a man with true grit.
Cogburn (The Big Lebowski’s Jeff Bridges) is a drunken gunslinger who kills more men than he brings to justice and is just the man for the job. Joined by cocksure Texas Ranger LaBoeuf (Matt Damon) the trio head into Indian territory on Chaney’s trail.
THE REVIEW
The Coen’s reworking of this classic western is broadly a very well constructed film. The cinematography is lovely, not quite worth the price of admission on it’s own but worthy of both BAFTA and Oscar nominations. The characters, whilst not all fully sculpted, were well acted, if not always true to life or sometime stereotypical.
But here’s the rub; when starting a film review it doesn’t bode well if the first thing you think to say is that the pictures were pretty and some of the acting was ok! Fundamentally I found this to be a good and enjoyable film, but after a couple of dry cinematic weeks and the resulting anticipation this one left me a little, meh!
Don’t get me wrong, there were some really good elements here. Bridges was great as an old sot, earning yet more leading actor award nominations to add to last years Golden Globe and Oscars gongs. Steinfeld performed what was an obstinate, and sometimes irksome, sometimes humorous character to great effect in her first feature, whilst Damon (of who I do rate) was adequate. For me, the characterisation, and therefore ultimately the script, seems to be somewhat lacklustre, and this is down to writers/directors Ethan and Joel Coen. This is not the first time they’ve got characterisation wrong; I cite The Lady Killers (another remake), but is disappointing following in the wake of Oscar winner No Country For Old Men (2007).
Not a bad film by any stretch, but slightly disappointing despite moment’s genuine humour and some good dialogue. Definitely not a ‘must see’ but in the absence of better selections you could do so much worse and you won’t feel worse for the experience.
THE VERDICT
The Coen’s give this John Wayne classic a reworking that displays the dark humour and gritty realism for which some of their previous outings have been praised. Whilst this film is outshone by other Coen films, most notably No Country, this is a good film with largely excellent acting and is overall a very enjoyable experience.
TC
Director: Ethan Coen & Joel Coen
Writer: Joel Coen & Ethan Coen (screenplay), Charles Portis (novel)
Stars: Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Hailee Steinfeld, Josh Brolin and Barry Pepper
Running Time: 110 Mins
NOW SEE THE TRAILER...
UK Release Date: 11th February 2011
AWARDS
BAFTA Winner - Cinematography: True Grit: Roger Deakins
BAFTA Nominee - Best Film: True Grit
BAFTA Nominee - Adapted Screenplay: Ethan Coen and Joel Coen for True Grit
BAFTA Nominee - Leading Actor: Jeff Bridges for True Grit
BAFTA Nominee - Leading Actress: Hailee Steinfeld for True Grit
BAFTA Nominee - Production Design: True Grit: Jess Gonchor, Nancy Haigh
BAFTA Nominee - Costume Design: True Grit: Mary Zophres
BAFTA Nominee - Sound: True Grit: Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff, Peter F Kurland, Douglas Axtell
Academy Award Nominee - Best Picture: Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers
Academy Award Nominee - Directing: Ethan Coen and Joel Coen
Academy Award Nominee - Actor in a Leading Role: Jeff Bridges
Academy Award Nominee - Actress in a Supporting Role: Hailee Steinfeld Academy Award Nominee - Art Direction: Production Design: Jess Gonchor; Set Decoration: Nancy Haigh
Academy Award Nominee - Cinematography: Roger Deakins
Academy Award Nominee - Costume Design: Mary Zophres
Academy Award Nominee - Sound Editing: Skip Lievsay and Craig Berkey
Academy Award Nominee - Sound Mixing: Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland
Academy Award Nominee - Writing (Adapted Screenplay): Written for the screen by Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
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