TRUE GRIT is one of those rare films that I can give nothing but praise; if anything it's one of the few films in last year's Best Picture list that was actually worth watching. Hell it deserved to win at least one academy award at the Oscar's.
The acting was superb with every single cast member fleshing out there characters and making them even more believable than any other cast in a movie released in the same year. Jeff Bridges did one hell of a job as the washout Rooster Cogburn alongside newcomer Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie Ross and Matt Damon the Texas Ranger LaBouef. While effective given what little screen time he had, I honestly wanted to see more of Josh Brolin as Tom Cheney but then again, you can't get everything you want. Character development was very good as young Mattie Ross' story of revenge unfolded against the backdrop of the violent West with the dialog helping cement just that.
Visually, everything fell into place; it wasn't hard to believe that the life in the frontier looked that nice but was hell to live in with criminals running about. Other small details such as music and costume design were spot on and did little to hinder the fact that the movie captured the feel of the classic cinematic West. Admittedly the pacing was slow but this paid off since this helped emphasize the feel of actual frontier life when chasing a criminal; boredom in between gunfights with lots of waiting. Action scenes are drawn out in between and in place of blazing gunfights we get character driven scenes which made the characters all the more human.
Don't get me wrong, the 1969 version with John Wayne as the lead was great and I do love me a good John Wayne film but this version of TRUE GRIT simply stands out since it was able to make a mark of its own; it didn't succumb to being under the shadow of a classic and instead chose its own path.
The only reason why I'm writing this is because for some reason, a lot of people hate it; obviously there's a lack of people who support it. I don't know if it's true for all people who've seen this film but seriously, why all the hate? I've read some forums mentioning that the Coen's TRUE GRIT is nothing compared to the John Wayne version due to a massive lack of gun fights and Rooster Cogburn screen time as the lead, others saying that the film was a total disappointment because of something as trivial as bad CGI backgrounds or slow pacing and debates questioning the possibility of a 400 yard gun shot. Speculations that Paramount Studios paid critics to say good things about the film were also rampant; all of a sudden the Coen brothers who've delivered crazy but great cult classics like THE BIG LEBOWSKI and FARGO are now too mainstream to appreciate. Maybe it's because it's cool to hate pretty much everything that's doing well on the internet right now as seen in the hype backlash against THE DARK KNIGHT and INCEPTION or maybe it's just because people are bored; I don't know.
Sure, for a Coen Brothers film TRUE GRIT was pretty shallow, simple and straight forward even after they made a name for themselves by creating unique genre busting films and the fact that it was a PG-13 film didn't help much but the duo still managed to do what they do best; make a good film that's more than worth your money.
Bottom line is if you don't like a slow paced Western and prefer the fast paced action ones, go ahead and watch TOMBSTONE or the 2007 version of 3:10 TO YUMA and the like; they're both good films that have heavy emphasis on action balanced with story. There's nothing wrong with liking an action filled Western since everybody has their own tastes that we should respect. But if you are the kind who can stomach a long, sometimes dragging film and trade all the action for good drama and character development, then TRUE GRIT is for you. Comparisons WILL be made with the John Wayne film but don't let the Duke's greatness blind you from seeing a good film. Go buy it on DVD.
The acting was superb with every single cast member fleshing out there characters and making them even more believable than any other cast in a movie released in the same year. Jeff Bridges did one hell of a job as the washout Rooster Cogburn alongside newcomer Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie Ross and Matt Damon the Texas Ranger LaBouef. While effective given what little screen time he had, I honestly wanted to see more of Josh Brolin as Tom Cheney but then again, you can't get everything you want. Character development was very good as young Mattie Ross' story of revenge unfolded against the backdrop of the violent West with the dialog helping cement just that.
Visually, everything fell into place; it wasn't hard to believe that the life in the frontier looked that nice but was hell to live in with criminals running about. Other small details such as music and costume design were spot on and did little to hinder the fact that the movie captured the feel of the classic cinematic West. Admittedly the pacing was slow but this paid off since this helped emphasize the feel of actual frontier life when chasing a criminal; boredom in between gunfights with lots of waiting. Action scenes are drawn out in between and in place of blazing gunfights we get character driven scenes which made the characters all the more human.
Don't get me wrong, the 1969 version with John Wayne as the lead was great and I do love me a good John Wayne film but this version of TRUE GRIT simply stands out since it was able to make a mark of its own; it didn't succumb to being under the shadow of a classic and instead chose its own path.
The only reason why I'm writing this is because for some reason, a lot of people hate it; obviously there's a lack of people who support it. I don't know if it's true for all people who've seen this film but seriously, why all the hate? I've read some forums mentioning that the Coen's TRUE GRIT is nothing compared to the John Wayne version due to a massive lack of gun fights and Rooster Cogburn screen time as the lead, others saying that the film was a total disappointment because of something as trivial as bad CGI backgrounds or slow pacing and debates questioning the possibility of a 400 yard gun shot. Speculations that Paramount Studios paid critics to say good things about the film were also rampant; all of a sudden the Coen brothers who've delivered crazy but great cult classics like THE BIG LEBOWSKI and FARGO are now too mainstream to appreciate. Maybe it's because it's cool to hate pretty much everything that's doing well on the internet right now as seen in the hype backlash against THE DARK KNIGHT and INCEPTION or maybe it's just because people are bored; I don't know.
Sure, for a Coen Brothers film TRUE GRIT was pretty shallow, simple and straight forward even after they made a name for themselves by creating unique genre busting films and the fact that it was a PG-13 film didn't help much but the duo still managed to do what they do best; make a good film that's more than worth your money.
Bottom line is if you don't like a slow paced Western and prefer the fast paced action ones, go ahead and watch TOMBSTONE or the 2007 version of 3:10 TO YUMA and the like; they're both good films that have heavy emphasis on action balanced with story. There's nothing wrong with liking an action filled Western since everybody has their own tastes that we should respect. But if you are the kind who can stomach a long, sometimes dragging film and trade all the action for good drama and character development, then TRUE GRIT is for you. Comparisons WILL be made with the John Wayne film but don't let the Duke's greatness blind you from seeing a good film. Go buy it on DVD.