True Grit Review

For all the useless information about movies my brain has collected over the years, I don’t really know jack about John Wayne.

I know he starred in a lot of westerns, but I’ve only seen one of his movies all the way through. (“The Green Berets” — don’t ask me why.) To be honest, my main reference point for the American screen icon is the impersonation of his walk that Nathan Lane does in “The Birdcage.” I also know that the only Best Actor Oscar Wayne collected during his storied career was for 1969’s “True Grit.”

I’m telling you all that to tell you this: although I’m already a person who strongly believes every movie should be able to stand on its own (whether it’s based on a book you haven’t read or a sequel/remake to a movie you haven’t seen), I’m not here to compare John Wayne to Jeff Bridges, and I’m REALLY not here to compare the original film to Joel and Ethan Coen’s thoroughly entertaining new take.

The spin for the new version is that it’s less of a remake of the John Wayne flick and more of a reimagining/direct adaptation of Charles Portis’ novel. Well, I didn’t read the novel either, so there goes that.

All I know is that this version stars Hailee Steinfeld (in a dazzling big-screen debut) as Mattie Ross, a 14-year-old girl who hires Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) —the meanest, crotchetiest U.S. Marshal she could find — to track down Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin), the man who killed her father.

Also looking for Chaney is a flamboyant Texas Ranger named LaBoeuf (pronounced “LaBeef”) who periodically joins Mattie and Rooster on their mission, and is more than happy to tell you how great the Rangers are.

I’m not exactly sure why Steinfeld has been slotted into “Supporting Actress” categories so far during this awards season (actually, I know exactly why…the competition there isn’t as stiff!), but the young actress competently and confidently drives the action in this film. This is particularly true early on when Mattie (who probably has the truest grit of any character) refuses to accept anything less than what she sees as justice for Chaney at her hands.

Still, Mattie isn’t some sort of freaky super child. I really appreciated that the Coens still took time to show that she was a kid who got cold when the person she was sleeping with hogged the covers or who got scared in a shootout.

Bridges is likely headed for his second consecutive Oscar nomination as Cogburn. Though I definitely enjoyed his performance, I don’t know Bridges (who comes off as immensely likable in real life and the majority of his roles) ever really convinced me that Cogburn was a bastard. As a result, his eventual bond with Mattie seemed inevitable from the beginning.

Damon, on the other hand, shrewdly uses his mega-celebrity/on-screen persona to his benefit. Any hang-ups you might have about forgetting that you’re watching “Matt Damon” are right there in his performance as LaBoeuf, who is mostly a noble buffoon that doesn’t fit Mattie’s definition of “true grit.” In other words, I loved him in this movie.

Conversely, Brolin’s performance basically amounts to an extended cameo in which the actor doesn’t really make much of an impression. (Maybe the point is that the person who killed Mattie’s father was kind of a nobody.) Mostly, it was good to see Barry Pepper on screen again (as the head of the gang Chaney is running with) in the movie’s third act.

This being a Coen Brothers production, it’s not surprising to see the movie injected with bits of poker-faced humor (besides the laughs we get from Bridges’ drunk act and Damon, who really is hilarious in this thing) followed up by bursts of violence. It’s also a more straight-forward production than their elegant, thrilling, sorta-confounding “No Country for Old Men”, their previous Oscar-winning entry in the western genre. Like “No Country”, “True Grit” looks gorgeous thanks to Roger Deakins, the Coens’ favored cinematographer.

“True Grit” moves a long at a decent, leisurely pace (occasionally broken up by those fits of humor and violence) before wrapping up with a strong climax and a questionably-necessary denouement. It’s also a satisfying throwback featuring impressive performances, and two of today’s best filmmakers working near (but not quite at) the top of their game.

True Grit…B+