Review of True Grit (2010) by James C — 18 Jul 2013

*My ratings are a reflection of the film in comparison to what it tries to achieve. For example, this will be rated on its objective quality as a western, not being compared to every film ever made.*.

True Grit is directed and written by the Coen Brothers, two men mostly known their Oscar winning films No Country For Old Men (Best Picture, Best Supporting Actor, Best Screenplay, and Best Director) and Fargo (Best Actress and Best Screenplay). True Grit is a reinterpretation of the novel written by Charles Portis in 1968, and is also a remake of the film of the same name starring John Wayne.

True Grit tells the story of Mattie Ross, (Hailee Steinfeld), a fourteen year-old girl living in the then-western United States not too long after the civil war. Mattie's father was recently murdered by a criminal called Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin), and because the law sees no reason to pursue Tom Chaney into Native American territory, Mattie hires Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges), a violent and drunken U.S. Marshal, to seek and capture Tom Chaney so he can be brought to justice. Also seeking Tom Chaney is a Texas law man named LaBeouf (Matt Damon), who crosses paths with Mattie and Cogburn regularly. Tom Chaney is traveling with a violent gang led by Lucky Ned (Barry Pepper), a man who has a history of sorts with Cogburn. The ties between these characters likely ends with violence, as Lucky Ned and Tom Chaney aren't going to become captured willingly.

The plot is simple, and True Grit isn't actually much more than a standard western. Standard, however, isn't the same as lazy, and the pure talent in every film-making category isn't hard to see. This is no surprise from the Coen Brothers, whose filmography includes two films widely regarded as classics, and quite a few cult hits, like the Big Lebowski and Miller's Crossing.

The soundtrack, composed by longtime Coen Bros. collaborator Carter Burwell, works extremely well with the emotions present in the film. The music seems almost nostalgic during an opening reflective voice-over, becoming both sad yet triumphant by the end, with a little excitement thrown in throughout the film's action scenes. The music works best by creating a parallel to the film, it seems very appropriate that most of the soundtrack is based on the song "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms" in a film where being carried across the country looking for help is the biggest emotional impact of the story.

The cinematography is another high point, as this might be the best-looking western I've ever seen (maybe behind The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly). I never thought the best scenery in a western would be found in snowy mountains, but Roger Deakin's camerawork makes every shot of nature look so inviting, every shot of dusty towns look so stark, and make a cave look so claustrophobic.

The strongest part of the film however are the character's and performances. It might be too early to say, but Hailee Steinfeld might be the most talented actress of her age, because she clearly understands what's going through her character's mind. That mind is quite fascinating actually, because Mattie Ross is what propels the story forward. She's a little girl in a dangerous situation, yet she only cares about her goal, to an obsessive amount. She's willing to overcome any obstacle, made very important when a river separates her from her journey, and instead of thinking of a way around it, decides to go straight through.

Mattie couldn't carry the story herself, however, as Rooster Cogburn is both what draws you in and what holds the narrative together. Cogburn is dirty yet honorable, drunken yet strong, violent yet has a strong sense of justice, and Jeff Bridges absolutely nails the performance. Even though Hailee Steinfeld has a ridiculous amount of talent for her first feature film, Jeff Bridges is the part of the film everyone will remember years from now. His best scene would probably be a test-of-marksmanship turned-pissing-contest between a drunken Cogburn and LaBeouf, in a scene that seems kind of pathetic, but reveals everything you need to know about his character, at least until he rides into battle later on, marking his character's subtle but dramatic change.

From the beginning, the cards have been stacked against True Grit. It's a remake of a John Wayne western. John Wayne is THE iconic western hero. I would argue though, that this remake is the superior film. John Wayne is practically a symbol of cinema at this point, but I think it's more because of what he stands for than any superior ability to get into character. Jeff Bridges has taken a John Wayne role and improved it, in my mind. Rooster Cogburn, as played by John Wayne is a normal John Wayne hero, but he is not written as one. Jeff Bridges understands the irony of the character's actions and his stubborn view of himself, and earned a very obvious Oscar nomination.

In the opening monologue, an older Mattie speaks, plain and simply, "There is nothing free, except the grace of god." She admits this just before her younger self embarks on a journey for revenge, obsessed with a single idea of justice. By the end of the film, we know, and she knows even more so, that revenge is not something that comes free. She ends the film in the same voice, stating that "time simply gets away from us". These reflective statements don't seem to belong to the same Mattie that we knew over the course of the film, but they do seem to belong to a woman who chased down a killer across the country when she was only fourteen. Cogburn and Mattie's journeys are not simply physical but spiritual, as Mattie realizes the price of obsession, and Cogburn turns into an actual hero. I would argue Rooster Cogburn does not start out as a character with "True Grit" as Mattie claims she is looking for, but by the end of the story, both he and Mattie both have a characteristic only describable as true grit, for better or for worse.

Remakes are a tricky thing. Many miss the mark completely, and those that are respectable films rarely are seen as better than the original. There are exceptions, like John Carpenter's The Thing, though these are few and far in between. True Grit is a remake of one of the greatest westerns ever made, so it has quite a lot to live up to. However, I believe this remake is in fact an improvement on the original, and is easily another one of the greatest westerns ever made, and very arguably the best to come out in quite a number of years. Whether it will still be watched or talked about decades from now is another question, and even more troubling is whether it will be remade again. I'd hope not, because I think this story has been exhausted from two feature films, but Hollywood might eventually forget this, because as it says itself, time has a way of getting away from us.

As this is my first review, I'll give an example of how to judge my rating scale.

A 4/4 would be about a 9/10. 3.5/4 would be an 8, and so on. Very few films are a perfect 10, though if I review one they will be put into a "classics" category rather than be given a rating.

True Grit (2010)'s score - 3.5/4 - True Grit is one of the best remakes ever made, and another classic for the Coen Brothers.