With award season right around the corner production companies try to sneak as many contenders in as possible before the end of the year to get consideration. This is especially true when it is a weaker year for top end movies such as this one has been. True Grit is Paramount’s last minute entry this year, and it’s a remake of the 1969 classic that gave John Wayne his one and only Academy Award. Will it be a contender, or will it be one of the Coen Brother’s misses?
Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin) murdered Mattie Ross’ (newcomer Hailee Steinfeld) father, and she wants him to pay for his crime. Unfortunately the law doesn’t seem too concerned with tracking him down, so she’s forced to hire a US Marshall to collect him. Out of the available options she chooses Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) because he is the nastiest one she can find. They are joined by a Texas Ranger (Matt Damon) who also wants Tom Chaney’s head. They travel through Indian Territory to find him, forced together by necessity, and discovering their own strength within to get the job done.
Most of the time remakes are a poor imitation of the original, but in this case the Coen Brothers manage to keep their movie on the same level. It’s hard watching this movie and not comparing it to the original, and yet every actor manages to pay homage to the actor before them while making the character uniquely their own. Jeff Bridges stands out, and will most likely be trying to defend his Best Actor Oscar at this year’s Academy Awards, and Hailee Steinfeld will most likely find herself with a nomination for her first film. The movie itself is almost two hours long, and yet it moves along at such a great pace that you don’t feel the time. Westerns can be tricky movies to make correctly, especially these days of special effects and explosions around every corner. Look at what they did to Jonah Hex earlier in the year and you’ll have an idea of the wrong way to make a western. The Coen Brothers though brought you into the world without trying to glamorize anything. You can almost feel the dirt beneath your head as the characters lie down for the night, or smell the beans cooking in the fireplace. The characters are all flawed, which adds a human touch to it and gives the movie the heart it needed in order to be considered good. The Coen Brothers said they kept closer to the original novel by Charles Portis, but it really isn’t a lot different from the original flick. If there is a downfall with the movie it’s that the question is asked, was it really necessary to remake it in the first place? Probably not, but it is good entertainment, and definitely worth seeing.
Remakes are tricky to do right, and the Coen Brothers managed to do it perfectly. You’ll hear more about this movie in the coming weeks when the awards season gets closer. Skip the other releases this week and do yourself a favour and catch this one. You’ll be glad you did.
Tags: Hailee Steinfeld, Jeff Bridges, john wayne, Josh Brolin, Matt Damon, mattie ross, movie review, movie reviews, rooster cogburn, the coen brothers, tom chaney, True Grit
I’m glad the Coen brothers did the remake, I thought it was great and I think it will inspire a lot of people to go out and watch the original, people who would have never even thought of watching a John Wayne movie before.