True Grit

Just got back from the Coen brothers' effort. Very solid. Beautifully shot as usual from them. Every scene, just beautiful. Hailee Steinfeld as the little girl held her own with, maybe even stole the show from, Bridges and Damon, who were both great. Some of the dialogue was a bit challenging and the pace lagged maybe once or twice, but overall very, very solid. 3.5 stars.

 

Started to watch this but couldn't get past how clean everything and everybody were. I think Deadwood has spoiled me.

 

Just saw the Coen Bros. version. Well-done. An "A" as a film school project. A good movie overall, had I been unfamiliar with the previous version.

I was surprised, though, at how closely this one tracked with the old one. People making a big deal out of how the dialogue is more true to the book must not have paid close attention to the Wayne version, because with the exception of the Duke himself, that same thing was going on in the older one. The negotations between the girl and the stable owner (the tremendous Strother Martin back then), Tom Chaney's stilted way of speaking ... all done already. Barry Pepper seemed to be doing a Robert Duvall impersonation, to the point that they could have used tape of Duvall's dialogue and let Pepper lip-synch.

This almost played like that famous (and ultimately needless) shot-for-shot remake of Psycho a few years back with Vince Vaughn as Norman Bates. I like Jeff Bridges and thought he did well. But we didn't really need this movie.

Unless a few young'uns went to see it who would otherwise never have exposed themselves to True Grit in any other form.

 

Until the end, I thought the girl would grow up to become Holly Hunter in "O Brother"

 

Despite my guarded optimism, I thoroughly enjoyed this remake.

I loved the cheesy original, and I loved this one, too. I agree with Joe about John Wayne always being Rooster Cogburn. But if you can get past that, Bridges was very good. The little girl was solid, although a little forced at times. Damon was fine. The filmmaking was top notch. I disagree that it wasn't necessary. I'm of the view that anything that might turn a younger generation on to the greatness of John Wayne is ok in my book. If a few of those see this movie, then give the original a try, it's all good. Even if they don't, the new version is worth the price of admission.