Year: 2010
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Hailee Steinfeld, Josh Brolin
Directed by: Joel and Ethan Coen
Run Time: 110 Minutes
Rating: PG-13
I have not seen the original True Grit, nor have a read the book. In my eyes, I feel that maybe I should in order to give a quality review because I know that some people will say "Well if you haven't seen the John Wayne version, how can you compare?" But that is the beauty of movies. It doesn't matter if it is a remake or reboot, or a sequel that has been years in the making. Hollywood makes movies to entertain the people of now, not the people of then. I am biased on this movie though, I am a huge fan of Westerns, and I certainly believe it is a genre of film that has been dying for a long time. With the few exceptions throughout the years, Westerns are a thing of the past, no pun intended.
True Grit was a great movie. The Coen brothers are known for their unusual style of filming, and this movie was actually a little more relaxed in comparison to their others. This movie is based around the girl, Haille Steinfeld playing Mattie Ross, who is seeking vengeance for her fathers murder. She tries to find people to help her in her quest, and stumbles upon two. Jeff Bridges who plays Rooster, and Matt Damon who plays LeBoeuf. The movie centers around those three searching for the killer, Tom Chaney played by Josh Brolin. The on screen chemistry is pretty decent in this movie and I understand why it is up for best picture. There were some things that didn't sit right with me however, like Matt Damon in a Western, but this movie was still very enjoyable and is a top 5 for my best picture nominations.
Another thing that I really enjoyed about this movie is the historical correctness that I perceived from this film. Whether or not it is 100% accurate, I felt that it was while sitting there. The language was also something of a change that you noticed. There were no contractions used in the film, at least that I noticed. The way the actors talked was probably more true to the time then today. When you take away words like "can't" or 'I'm" you really notice it when they are speaking. Also, many of you probably don't care much, but the guns used were authentic to the time as well.
Couple things I disliked was Matt Damon in a western, because it is really hard to see him as a rugged person of that era. Jeff Bridges looked like he had been living in that time period for years. That is something that is really hard to do when you are in a western role is to make it actually seem like you are from that era. That is why a lot of westerns fail now-a-days. I also didn't like that Josh Brolin was in the main credits even though he appeared in the film for a very small amount of time. The lead actress Hailee Steinfeld should have been one of the leaders in the credits considering she is in most of the movie. If you look at the movie poster above, you will see what I mean.
In order to give this a western theme, I am going to increase my rating system to 6. So I give this movie a 5 out of 6 shots fired from a calvary revolver and a 4 out of 6. Reason for two ratings: the first reflects for today in comparison to it as just another movie. It was a really good movie and will be added to my collection. The second rating is in comparison to other westerns. It was good, but it was not Unforgiven, nor was it really that great in comparison to A Fistful of Dollars, but was better then say Appaloose or the more recent 3:10 to Yuma. You should see it, it is definitely worth a watch.
TMBro
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