Review of True Grit (2010) by Dick D — 23 Nov 2012

In order to fully appreciate this film, you have to understand the Cohen Brothers.

It's a movie meant for someone who is going to understand Matt Damon's style of humor. I was reminiscent to Ocean's Eleven when he so matter-of-factly says something conceited and demeaning...making the other characters have some sort of moral defense (i.e. am I the only one here that feels bad robbing from a handicapped person?). In this case he was a Texas Ranger who was all too proud of that fact. I was a play on Texas Pride. It was a chance for Matt Damon to shine his moral, condescending, dry humor, and the Cohen Brothers utilized this to perfection.

It was a film critics film. Purposefully going against cliche scene and character development, while at the same time making the lead character fantastically cliche, almost as if to say "we know". Here's an example of what I mean: an outspoken girl who has a biting tongue and intellect tames an mean old gunfighter. That was the John Wayne version. The Cohen Brothers take the same plot, and make it a piece of art.

Girl: I'm looking for a gunfighter.

Man: Well there are three, one is an indian, the best tracker you'll ever see, one is the meanest gunfighter who doesn't have an ounce of fear and kills without a second thought, and one other is a good man who is very skilled, always catches his man and brings him back to a judge...he says every man deserves a trial.

Girl: I'll take the mean one, where does he live?

A politically correct film would have chosen the first, an old western would have chosen the third, the Cohen brothers choose the second. This is what I love about it.