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.

Coen Brothers Film "True Grit" Gets Posterized with a Trailer

FattMatt and I are huge fans of Joel & Ethan Coen. The men are brilliant in every sense of the word. Their ability of storytelling has been recognized time and time again, culminating with an Oscar win for No Country for Old Men a few years ago. True Grit is their latest, an adaptation of a novel by the same name. The brothers wrote and directed the film set to be released December 22nd. It stars last year's Oscar winner for Best Actor, Jeff Bridges. Also stars 2-time Oscar Nominee, Matt Damon. And returning to work with the Coen brothers, Josh Brolin, also an Oscar Nominee. Bridges also worked with the 'Brothers' on The Big Lebowski.

The movie also stars Barry Pepper (very underrated actor) and newcomer Hailee Steinfeld. It tells the story of a U.S. Marshal (Bridges) tracking down the man who murdered Steinfeld's father. The murderer is played by Brolin. Bridges and Steinfeld are accompanied by Matt Damon who plays a Texas Ranger. It follows the three on their quest for 'retribution'. Click the jump to see the trailer and read my thoughts.

Ho-ly wow. Ho-ly mother or wow. I mean I loved No Country..., but this is just ridiculous! I clapped, I cheered every one-liner Bridges had and was curious about Brolin and Damon's characters. Now, hot damn that's a good trailer. So can Hollywood still produce great westerns? I say yes! Your thoughts?

Official "Men In Black III" Release Date

Deadline has announced that Men In Black III will be in theaters on May 25, 2012.
So far Will Smith is the only one officially back on the project, as Tommy Lee Jones and Josh Brolin are still negotiating.

The film will be in 3D (boo!) and again be directed by Barry Sonnenfeld (boo again!).
That summer, it will be competing with The Avengers, Star Trek 2, Batman 3, Battleship and the Spider-Man reboot.

Jonah Hex becoming more and more real

Jonah Hex is a western comic book series that is published by DC Comics. The character made his first appearance in 1972 and quickly became a fan favorite. Now, of course he's not as popular as the other DC properties like Superman and Batman, but I think that's because he's a little different. He's an anti-hero of sorts, kind of like Wolverine is to the Marvel Comics universe.

Nonetheless, the movie will be out shortly. Here's a couple of tid bits about the movie:

It will be directed by Jimmy Hayward, who comes from an animation background with Pixar. He's animated on movies like Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monster's Inc., Finding Nemo, Robots and Horton Hears a Who. Wow, good list of movies.

The movie stars Josh Brolin from No Country For Old Men (a personal favorite of Matt and I).

Also stars the always terrific John Malkovich, you all know him from Con Air and maybe even Rounders.

Eye candy: Megan Fox... a freakin' terrible across who built a career solely based on her looks. Oh well, she wont have to do much in this movie OTHER than look good.


We just discussed in the posting prior to this one, how the comic book genre is in full swing, and we don't see any signs of it slowing down! Warner Bros. is taking on the film, and they know a thing or two about superhero movies.

Tony: No Country For Old Men Review

Holy mother of wow... Let me start off by giving you a warning: this is not an action movie. This is one of the purest drama's to ever be made. "No Country..." is one of those "hard to explain" movies... "you just have to see it". But I'll try my best.
The movie is dark... real dark! The Coen brothers are remarkable. They also wrote the script which is amazing. The dialogue in this movie will be studied for years to come, it's that good. Speaking of dialogue, Tommy Lee Jones gives a performance that will be remembered as his best since "The Fugitive" in which he won an Oscar for.
All the acting is phenomenal in this movie. I was scared of the scary characters, and I cared for the "good guys". How long has it been since you were literally "on the edge of your seat" in a movie? Well I was during "No Country...". The cat and mouse game is so good, it's uncomfortable to watch sometimes. It's uncomfortable because you never know what's going to happen, and that my friends is the entire concept of the movie. Not theme, but concept. There are many themes in the movie, just read the title. But the primary concept is unpredictability.
Remember "Forrest Gump"? My cousin Mat and I have a perfect example of the concept of a movie: In "Forrest Gump", the concept was coincidence. Everything amazing that happened to Forrest Gump was pure coincidence. If things were just the tiniest bit different, he wouldn't have been a war hero, or met all those presidents or been a world ping-pong champion. In "No Country..." nothing is predictable. The best parts are when you start to get cocky and think you've figured it out... you haven't figured out a damn thing.
There are no cliches throughout this movie that helps you predict the ending, it's all about unpredictability. The ending will be talked about for years... you will see why if you ever watch it.
There are other techniques in the movie that lend themselves to the dark feel. For example, there's no sountrack... let me say this again, there's NO music throughout the entire film. You may not pay attention to the music in the movies you watch, but its the music in certain scenes that create emotion. You hear happy music in a scene when a family is at the park, you feel happy. You hear a symphony playing during a scene where someone dies, you feel sad. There's no music in "No Country..." you will feel nothing. And the absence of emotion is what lends to the darkness of the film. Another technique is the lack of color. Everything is so plain, even ugly at times. Dirty browns, greens, etc. also create a cold mood throughout the movie.
This movie was just nominated for 8 Oscars, and it's not for being an average movie. But you have to watch carefully, or you will walk out of the theater cheated, but it will be your own fault. Pay attention to the dialogue, pay attention to the sites and locations, pay attention to the mood the directors have setup for you. If you do these things, I'm telling you, "No Country for Old Men" will be one of the best movies you ever see. What if you don't like the movie? It's ok, because that means we just Agree To Disagree.