MOVIE REVIEW: True Grit

True Grit (2010)

A Film Review by Junior Bruce

I love me a good western.  Always have.  From watching Nobody make a living legend out of Jack Beauregard in "My Name is Nobody," to fantasizing about being an old west outlaw taking on the Murphy Gang alongside Billy the Kid in "Young Guns," westerns have made up a significant portion of my movie watching years.  So when something like "True Grit" comes lumbering down the trail, you know my goose-pimples are reaching for the sky like a rustler staring down the barrel of a Rooster Cogburn held pistol!

"True Grit" is a Coen Brothers remake of a classic starring John Wayne.  Of course, as of this writing, I've yet to see the original, so I can't (and won't) be making any comparisons.  What I will tell you, however, is that of the westerns that I have seen, this movie is one of the most authentic.  Not that I've spent a day in the old west, because time travel hasn't been invented yet, but if I had to hold one movie up as a mirror to match what I think is accurate, "True Grit" is getting the nod.

Mattie Ross (as played by Hailee Steinfeld) is a shrewd 14-year-old on a mission to avenge the death of her father at the hands of Tom Chaney (played by Josh Brolin).  After it's made clear that the local authorities have little interest in bringing her father's killer to justice, Mattie sets off to hire her own muscle to hunt Chaney down.  She gets a lead on a wily US marshal by the name of Rooster Cogburn (played by Jeff Bridges).  Cogburn, with his knowledge of the gang Chaney is suspected of riding with, and his reputation for having grit, seems the perfect match for Mattie's mission.  Along the way the two are joined by LaBoeuf (pronounced La'Beef and played by Matt Damon), a cocksure Texas Ranger who's been on the hunt for Chaney for many years. 

What drives this movie, aside from its seeming authenticity, is its performances.  While the film is populated with a plethora of great leading and character actors (Barry Pepper pops up near the end delivering one of his best performances to date…as well as confirming that John Travolta and Forest Whitaker weren't the only ones to survive "Battlefield Earth") the real star of this movie is Steinfeld.  In a movie I was excited to watch for a terrific Jeff Bridges performance, I found myself coming away less interested in his aging drunkard interpretation of Rooster, and more in the life of this little girl who, while inexperienced, more than carries her weight alongside heavyweights…both in story and performance.

Of all the filmmakers in Hollywood, I have the most faith in the Coen Brothers.  "True Grit" is just another brick in their great wall of stories.  Let's just hope it's not another ten plus years before they team up with Bridges again.  And keep that Hailee around, too.  She's pretty good.

VERDICT:  LOVED IT