The 2010/2011 remake of True Grit was written, produced and directed by the Coen Brothers (and others), who are well known for the films such as O, Brother Where Art Thou?, The Big Lebowski, No Country For Old Men and many more. The Coen Brothers, in my opinion have mastered a western movie for this generation. Westerns have sadly fallen by the way side in recent years and with this film being as good as it is, nominated for 10 academy awards, hopefully the western is back!
This film adheres to the current film climate, i.e. it is an adaptation, remake or franchise film (sequel and/or prequel), in this case it’s two. Adapted from the 1968 novel True Grit by Charles Portis, the film tells the story of a young girl, Mattie Ross (played by the fantastic Hailee Steinfeld), who seeks revenge from the man who killed her father. To do this she seeks the help of the drunk, yet seriously western, U.S. Federal Marshal, Ruben J. “Rooster” Cogburn (JEFF BRIDGES!) and they set out into the wilds of the Indian Country in pursuit of Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin). Also on the tail of the cowardly Chaney, is none other than that moo-stached mongrel, Texas Ranger LaBoeuf (Matt Damon) who has a friendly rivalry with Rooster as they race to catch Chaney.
The film is nominated for 10 academy awards including; Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor (Jeff Bridges), Best Supporting Actress (Hailee Steinfeld), Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Sound Editing. Hopefully it will take home a bag full as this movie is really worth it. Especially Hailee Steinfeld, such a strong character played so well!
Probably the most outstanding features of this movie is how ‘western’ Jeff Bridges (and in fact all the characters) can be… some of the time funny and some of it all rough and tough, the scenery of the old western frontier and the) pardon the pun… true gritty-ness of the whole movie. A true Period Piece. However it will still appeal to the generation of today. More Westerns Please!
True Grit: Average
Average Film Blog 