Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
(M) *****
Director: The Coen Brothers
Cast: Jeff Bridges, Hailee Steinfeld, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, Barry Pepper.
WHEN it was first announced the Coens were taking on True Grit - the 1969 film which netted John Wayne his only Oscar - there were concerns that it would end up as another retreaded folly like their remake of The Ladykillers.
But fear not, Coen fans - they've created one of the great westerns of the modern era, harnessing the wild west vibe they sprinkled through No Country For Old Men but this time diving whole-heartedly into the traditions and era of the genre.
Pitched closer to the Charles Portis novel than the 1969 film, it centres on Mattie Ross (Steinfeld), a 14-year-old girl with an iron-clad desire to see her father's murderer brought to justice and hung from the gallows.
She decides Rooster Cogburn (Bridges) is the marshall for the job, and after some convincing - and plenty of arguing - Mattie, Cogburn and tag-along Texas Ranger LaBoeuf (Damon) are riding into Indian territory to hunt down cold-blooded killer Tom Chaney (Brolin).
As with most Coen Brothers films, there is a certain verbose humour running amid the more serious themes of retribution and honour, and the script particularly revels in its 'old-timey' speak, dancing across the archaic words, turns-of-phrase and pronunciations like a more subdued O Brother, Where Art Thou?.
The sharpest tongue belongs to Mattie, and Steinfeld is a revelation in the role, perfectly handling the physicality, emotional range and tricky worldplay needed for the role. She's a head-strong character, wise beyond her years, and a fascinating heroine.
She does feel slightly overshadowed by The Dude re-doing The Duke - and leaving Wayne's performance way behind - but very few actors can match Bridges when he's on fire like this. Even the usually solid Matt Damon seems shaky next Bridges' whisky-guzzlin', once-great Cogburn.
Perhaps the unsung star is regular Coen Brothers cinematographer Roger Deakins, whose lens renders some of the darker moments into painterly beauty, such as a dead man hanging from a tree's top branches, or a dead horse on a starlit plain. True Grit looks amazing and suitably "western" and Deakins has helped the Coens achieve their best-looking film since O Brother, Where Art Thou?.
There are very few lowlights in the film. Damon seems a little mis-cast (although LaBoeuf is the least defined character) and the film does take a while to get going, but these are minor quibbles when you are watching something as rich as this.
And don't be surprised if Bridges rides off into the sunset with his second best actor Oscar in a row, having added another iconic character to his impressive CV.