True Grit
Posted: Fri Dec 24, 2010 6:42 pm
I went and saw True Grit this morning. As much as I get a kick out of the Duke, his Rooster Cogburn can't shake a stick at Jeff Bridges' rendition. Matt Damon plays Texas Ranger Tom La Boeuf. At first his character seems pompous and a little bit seedy, but as the film progresses, we come to appreciate that, under the flamboyant self-promotion, this is an honest and courageous man, not to be trifled with. The big surprise is little known Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie Ross. Instead of a less than believable 20 year old playing a 14 year old girl, as in the previous film, Hailee Steinfeld IS 14 years old, and so her portrayal of the headstrong and brave young Ross is startling. She has a big career ahead of her. There is a surprise performance from Barry Pepper, whom you may have trouble recognizing at first, and Josh Brolin excels as the barely human coward, Tom Chaney. The firearms portrayals were pretty accurate. Also, this version of the movie is faithful to the original book by Charles Portis, which the older movie was not.
Beautifully shot and very well acted, it should get an oscar for screenplay alone, but I would not be surprised if this film gets several nominations. The dialog is in the much more formal and stilted tones and words of the 19th century, but that is how people actually spoke back then, so it lends a realism to the film which the original movie lacks. I actually prefer it when people spoke like that. It was far more descriptive, and far more precise. Half of our problems today stem from poor communication, exacerbated by the common use of words with ambivalent meaning.
The Cohen Brothers' movies tend to be polarizing. You either hate them or love them. I'm ambivalent. I really liked No Country for Old Men, Oh Brother Where Art Thou, and a few of their other earlier efforts, but I just couldn't make myself sit through The Big Lubowski all the way, even after several attempts. But I think that True Grit just may be their very best effort yet, and it stands as one of my favorite movies. I highly recommend seeing it.
It is rated PG13, probably for violence, although it really isn't that violent. It's not even that bloody. It has little or no profanity, no "F Bombs," no nudity, no sex, and none of the other things that make one cringe and wonder how a movie that should have been rated R got itself a PG13 rating. This movie comes by its PG13 rating honestly.
Beautifully shot and very well acted, it should get an oscar for screenplay alone, but I would not be surprised if this film gets several nominations. The dialog is in the much more formal and stilted tones and words of the 19th century, but that is how people actually spoke back then, so it lends a realism to the film which the original movie lacks. I actually prefer it when people spoke like that. It was far more descriptive, and far more precise. Half of our problems today stem from poor communication, exacerbated by the common use of words with ambivalent meaning.
The Cohen Brothers' movies tend to be polarizing. You either hate them or love them. I'm ambivalent. I really liked No Country for Old Men, Oh Brother Where Art Thou, and a few of their other earlier efforts, but I just couldn't make myself sit through The Big Lubowski all the way, even after several attempts. But I think that True Grit just may be their very best effort yet, and it stands as one of my favorite movies. I highly recommend seeing it.
It is rated PG13, probably for violence, although it really isn't that violent. It's not even that bloody. It has little or no profanity, no "F Bombs," no nudity, no sex, and none of the other things that make one cringe and wonder how a movie that should have been rated R got itself a PG13 rating. This movie comes by its PG13 rating honestly.
Good review TAM. I sure wish new westerns (good ones) would come out more often these days.
I'll be seeing True Grit on TAM's recommendation.