Tony: "True Grit" Review

To check out Matt's review of the film, click here. Now, I haven't read Matt's review because I've been looking forward to this movie since I first saw the trailer. It's brought to you by the brilliant Coen brothers, Joel & Ethan. The pair won director Oscars for No Country For Old Men, which also took home the Best Picture Oscar. Now comes True Grit, a good old fashioned western. The movie stars Hailee Steinfeld, the 14 years actress getting a lot of attention. She hires Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon to track down the man who killed her father. The killer is played by Josh Brolin. Read my likes and dislikes after the jump!

What I liked about the movie:
The Story

Sometimes, the best stories, are the most simple. I always believed the best stories could be summarized in a sentence or two... 'A young girls hires two law men to help avenge the death of her father'. Brilliant! The movie dives deep into each character's motives. The script was also written by the Coen brothers, so the fact that character development was important does not surprise me. They're just as good, if not better writers as they are directors. The story is simple and easy to follow.

If there is any action, its to compliment the story, nothing more. The narrative is carefully constructed as to not give anything away and sets a nice pace for the movie.

The Acting

Oh wow. Now, I haven't seen Colin Firth in The King's Speech yet, but Jeff Bridges is damn good in this one. We all know he won his first Oscar last year for Crazy Hearts, he may follow in Tom Hank's footsteps and win back-to-back Oscars. Bridges totally embodies this alcoholic mess of a U.S. Marshall. There is a court room scene that will blow your mind. He's amazing.

Matt Damon plays a Texas Ranger who was already on the hunt for, and knows everything there is to know about Josh Brolin's character. Damon is quick and witty in this one. Going toe to toe with Bridges. They have some hilarious scenes together where they're arguing.

Last but certainly not least is the actress getting a LOT of attention. Miss Hailee Steinfeld knocks it out of the park with her performance in the film. She has some of the most emotional scenes and most difficult dialogue in the movie. You seriously forget the girl was born in 1996! If you watch the movie, enjoy the negotiating scene with miss Steinfeld, amazing young actress.

Another notable performance is by Barry Pepper, who I believe is one of the most underrated actors in Hollywood. The man has turned in consistently good work, but just doesn't have the face of A-lister I suppose. I don't know what the reason, but he's so good in this film. It's a small role that could have EASILY been ignored by a different actor. Pepper does not disappoint. Kudos to the Coens for casting him. I bet the studios has their own actor in mind for the part.

The Direction

I am not as big a fan of Coens as Matt is, but I do respect them tremendously. They've found their own style of film making that no one can touch. The cinematography was spectacular; it gave the settings the scale needed for the story. The sets were realistic; the brothers helped create a fully functioning town that only helped enhance the film. The score was fitting and never tried to take over the story or the characters. The editing was perfect and fit every scene accordingly. The list could go on and on. They just did everything right!


What I didn't like about the film:
Oh! There he is!
This is a minor complaint amongst all the great aspects of the film. I hate when any movie does this, so I have to gripe about it here. I don't like when a character, good or bad, so conveniently reappears during a crucial moment in the film. That happens in this film and its forgivable.


The movie is amongst the best I've seen in a long long time. I'm really not doing it justice with this review, but it's the best I got. I hope Jeff Bridges does win his second Oscar and hopefully Steinfeld or Damon get recognized by the Academy as well. Two big thumbs up here! The Coen brothers are in true form with True Grit!

FattMatt: "True Grit" Review

31 years after the original True Grit, the Coen Brothers decide to put out a remake with the same name. Well, its not really a remake. The new film is based on the same novel that the older film is also based on, True Grit by Charles Portis. That's the reason that I didn't bother watching the original film yet before writing this review.

The story centers around Mattie Ross, a 14-year-old girl who is out to find Tom Chaney, the man that murdered her father, and bring him to justice. To help her, she enlists U.S. Marshall 'Rooster' Cogburn, an old, one-eyed drunk that she has heard is the best man for the job. A man that has true grit.
Let's dig in.


What I liked about the film:
The Acting
14-year-old actress Hailee Steinfeld is just great in this film. She stars as Mattie Ross, a character who is also only 14 years old, but is quite mature for her age. She takes on the task of hiring a U.S. Marshall to hunt down the man who killed her father because her mother is basically too much of a girl to do it. Mattie is independent and smart, and can hold a conversation like a grown woman.
I haven't seen Steinfeld act in anything before, but I think she was just right in this role. I can't wait to see what types of projects will be thrown at her from now on.

Jeff Bridges takes on the role of U.S. Marshall Reuben J. 'Rooster' Cogburn. He's a drunk and only has one good eye, wearing an eye patch over the other. He's the one man that Mattie has heard has 'true grit,' and so gets hired for the job.
Bridges does a fantastic job in this role. I think he was just perfect and I can't wait to compare him to John Wayne, who played Rooster in the older film and won his only acting Oscar for it. Bridges really shows us why he has that Oscar, perfectly spitting out that one-liner to get a laugh at just the right tone, and showing us his talent when it comes to darker situations. The man reminds me of Al Pacino in that he can act without saying a word, just using his eyes, or, eye in this case.

Matt Damon does a fine job in the role of LaBoeuf, a Texas Ranger who's been pursuing Tom Chaney for months for the murder of a senator. I have a little problem with Matt Damon trying to look older by just wearing a mustache, (I also have the same problem with Leo DiCaprio and Matt Broderick). I think Damon's talent, however, eventually makes me forget what he looks like. He really pulls me into the character later on in the film when he has to talk with a lisp for reasons I won't spoil here. Great job.

Josh Brolin has a much smaller role in the film than I imagined he would, playing the murderous Tom Chaney that everyone is after. He does a fine job, along with Barry Pepper as Lucky Ned, the head of the gang that Chaney ties in with.

The Story
The story is just awesome. I love revenge stories, and this is a great one. It's also just a straight forward Western, which I think is quite unusual of the Coens, who usually tend to experiment a bit more with their films. Although seeing as how they wanted to stick very close to the novel, it's a very tight story that plays out like a good book. Great adaptation.

The Cinematography
Roger Deakins has been with the Coens for most of their films, and once again does a fantastic job portraying the old west, at a few times reminding me of Rio Bravo and other classics. Overall, this is a beautiful movie with perfect shots and gorgeous scenes.

The Soundtrack
The music in the film is done by Carter Burwell, another long-time Coens collaborator. It is based on 19th century church hymns. Typical of the Coens, it wasn't used over-abundantly, but rather just at a few places to emphasize the situation. It sounded strong and hard, not uplifting, but also not sad or depressing.

Now that I've listed all my positives for the movie, I'm going to tell you that I really didn't have any strong dislikes!
The only thing I had trouble with every now-and-then was the editing. It felt forced at some points and didn't really flow well. But only at a few points. Most of the film was fine.


Overall, this film was fantastic. Now, I love the Coens and have seen every one of their films. So it's true that I might have a little bias when it comes to watching this film, but let me just say that it was not exactly what I had thought it would be.
It is very unlike their films in many ways, yet it still felt like a Coens film. Although it has some severe and violent moments, it's not a severe or violent film. It doesn't feel like you're watching a Coen Brothers film until it ends and you reflect upon it. It's hard to explain it. You'll just have to see it for yourself.