True Grit (2010)
True Grit (USA) Directed by Joel Coen; Ethan Cohen Written by Joel Coen; Ethan Coen Starring Jeff Bridges; Matt Damon; Hailee Steinfeld; Josh Brolin; Barry Pepper;
There was a time when it seemed that the American Western had all but died out, but along came Clint Eastwood’s Unforgiven (1992), and later, the acclaimed HBO series Deadwood (2004-06), both serving to re-invent the tired genre in their own way, creating the path for a string of quality revisionist or anti-Westerns that include Tombstone (1993); The Propostiion (2005); 3:10 to Yuma (2007); The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007); and Appaloosa (2008).
Although they’ve never attempted a straight Western before, The Coen’s have traversed this same basic thematic territory, most notably with 2007s No Country for Old Men, which, like True Grit (novel by Charles Portis), was adapted from a modern classic by a famous American author (Cormac McCarthy), and also involved a search through Western country (not to mention having Josh Brolin in common). While True Grit is a period Western, the story is broadly one that been Coen staple since the beginning - characters thrown together as they journey toward a collective goal that is complicated by individual interests.
The Coen’s may be the closest thing there is to a must see American director. Though there have been a few missteps (most notably, The Ladykillers), for the most part audiences can depend on something of merit arising from the combined efforts of the famously elusive, interview-shy brothers. They continue to take traditional genres, re-inventing, melding, and twisting conventions to create innovative amalgams.
The challenge here was great, if only because this is a remake or re-imagining of sorts. The book had been used before as the source for John Wayne’s 1969 film of the same name (Wayne went on to reprise the role in 1975 in Rooster Cogburn). It is impossible not to compare two films sharing the same name and source material, though no one does Wayne like Wayne, his presence in Westerns perhaps as iconic as any archetypal movie persona in the history of cinema. Rooster Cogburn was a kind of culmination of a career playing the ornery, laconic, tough guy loner, and recognizing this the Academy awarded him an Oscar.
Jeff Bridges, long one of America’s more under-appreciated actors, won an Oscar himself last year. Here, he does ornery and crusty well, with a voice/accent that sounds like a mix of Jack Elam and Billy Bob Thornton’s Carl from Slingblade. Matt Damon as Texas Ranger Labouef, is also solid, playing the part with a mix of sincerity and a wink, his accent a derivation of his well known impression of fellow actor Matthew McConaughy.
The real surprise though is thirteen year old Hailee Steinfeld, playing the role handled by the much older Kim Darby in the original, the preternaturally wise fourteen year old Matty Ross. Matty has recently lost her father, who was murdered in cold blood by criminal Tom Chaney (Brolin). Matty travels to Fort Smith, Arkansas to take care of of her father’s business affairs, but, refusing to trust the law to track down and prosecute her father’s killer, she hires the drunken U.S. Marshal Cogburn, insisting she must accompany him as part of the deal, and the two embark on the manhunt, joined by Texas Ranger LaBouef.
The Coens play it relatively straight here, choosing to employ the kind of archaic speech pattern popularized in Deadwood, a challenge met by the talented cast, particularly the young Steinfeld, who manages the fast paced, speech-filled dialogue with aplomb. The mix of the dramatic and comedic, with a dose of Coen violence, has True Grit ranking as upper echelon Coen - not quite in the realm of Miller’s Crossing or The Big Lebowski, but with perhaps only an overlong first act courtroom sequence and a lukewarm ending keeping it from nipping at the heels of greatness. The Coens usual collaborators assist, and the cinematography from the marvelous Roger Deakins; and piano dominated score by Carter Burwell are both, of course, superb.