True Grit Review

I should say from the outset that I am a huge fan of the Coen Brothers. They very rarely do much wrong in my eyes. Blood Simple. Raising Arizona. Barton Fink. Fargo. The Big Lebowski. The Man Who Wasn’t There. No Country For Old Men. A Serious Man. All favourites of mine. So it was with a great amount of anticipation that I saw their latest effort, True Grit.

The film is based on Charles Portis’ 1968 novel rather than the 1969 film version that gave John Wayne his only Oscar for his portrayal as Rooster Cogburn. Narrated by an adult Mattie Ross (Elizabeth Marvel), the film takes place when she was a stubborn fourteen year old (newcomer Hailee Steinfeld) and out for justice after her father is murdered by one of his hired hands Tom Chany (Josh Brolin). She chooses the most ruthless Marshall in town, Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) and Texas Ranger LaBoeuf (Matt Damon) to apprehend Chany and the unlikely trio set off on their journey.

The film is the one of the Coen Brothers more conventional efforts to date, but Coen-esque moments are still present, in both a scene where a man is hung exceptionally high in a tree and the exceptionally surreal moment where it seems a bear is riding a horse towards the trio.

Despite being a more straight effort, the quality is as high as ever. Cinematographer Roger Deakins (now on his 11^th Coen Brother movie) delivers immense image after immense image, ranging from the busy, sweeping locations of the opening town scenes to the breathtaking, desolate locations that really convey a sense that the three characters are pursuing a man hiding in a harsh, unforgiving landscape.

Jeff Bridges manages to put his own stamp of the role made famous by Wayne and his Cogburn shifts from being a useless drunk to character you can’t help but violently cheer for come the films final third. It’s also a somewhat brave turn from Jeff Bridges considering the mumbling nature of his performance, but this, if anything, adds to what is an authentic, believable portrayal of both inebriated and the heroic Cogburn. Credit also to Matt Damon, whose LeBoef manages to come across likable despite clearly being an oaf in spurs.

Hailee Steinfeld puts in one of the most impressive debuts of recent times with her portrayal of Mattie and manages to hold her own against the powerhouse performance of Bridges. She gets all the best lines and her sarcastic snipes at her co-stars as well as her stubborn attitude in getting the journey going help to suggest that it is indeed the fourteen year old girl that possesses the grit of the title.

Thoroughly entertaining, often funny and always a pleasure to look at, the film contains an ending that packs a somewhat unexpected emotional punch that leaves True Grit as one of the Coens more conventional crowd pleasers, but also, one of the very best films of their career.

(Will Self has written a retrospective look at the films of the Coens that is sure to get under the skin of any fan of the Brothers. Have a look. http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/feb/11/will-self-coen-brothers)