Review of True Grit (2010) by Lloyd S — 08 Oct 2014

Being a huge Coen Brothers fan, I was surprised to hear they were remaking True Grit. I know they were fans of the original, but my experience with them made me believe they were going to take the original and improve it dramatically the Coen Brothers way.

Well...they didn't. In fact, this was the most un-Coen Brothers movie I've ever seen. Not to say that is a bad thing, but having just watched the original, I could have not seen this version entirely and not missed anything.

Being fans of the original, they clearly wanted to pay homage to the original. In fact, dialogue and setting-wise, it was about a 90% carbon copy of the original, down to the shots, the script and the way the characters were portrayed.

The Coen Brothers really didn't do much to put their stamp on the film, except maybe the perfect casting. Aside from very minor differences throughout the film (such as Mattie covering the chimney to smoke out the first couple of ruffians rather than LaBoeuf and having LaBoeuf interact with Ned Pepper the first time instead of Rooster), the only meaningful change in the script is the last 30 minutes.

I've never read the book, but the compliments given to this version is that it is more like the book. That must mean the ending. It is very different, and honestly, better than the original. However, anyone could have done this film the way it was done.

The Coen Brothers didn't do anything to make this film special, so I'm grading it as an average film. I hope they enjoyed making it more than I enjoyed watching it and I look forward to them returning to their style soon.