Dec. 30, 2010
BECK AT THE MOVIES: 'True Grit'
Newcomer Shows Surprising Toughness
By Jeff Beck
Special to Huntingtonnews.net
Richmond, VA (HNN) - Before watching this new version of “True Grit,” I debated as to whether or not I should rewatch the original adaption that starred John Wayne in the role for which he won his only Oscar, but after doing some reading, I learned that this new version from the Coen Brothers was supposed to be a closer adaptation of the book by Charles Portis. This made me choose in favor of going into this film without rewatching the original, which I’ve only seen once, and probably all the better for having a fresh perspective on this film.
The film begins with Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) recalling how her father had been killed by a man named Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin). After claiming her father’s body, she seeks help from a local marshal, Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges), who is supposedly the meanest marshal around, which is exactly the kind of man Mattie is looking for to help her track down Chaney. Once he is hired, he takes off after Chaney in the company of a Texas Ranger, LaBoeuf (Matt Damon), who is also after Chaney for the murder of a senator. Mattie, annoyed that she has been left behind, hops on a horse and immediately catches up to them.
After some hesitation from Cogburn and LaBoeuf, she joins in the search. On their journey into Indian territory, they attempt to seek out the location of a gang that Chaney has taken up with lead by Lucky Ned Pepper (Barry Pepper). They must be on their guard for they never know who they will run into this far into the wilderness whether it be a strange dentist dressed as a bear, or dangerous men who could lead them to the gang.
The Coen Brothers very rarely disappoint, and their rendition of “True Grit” was no exception, though at one point, it was surprisingly close. The first act of the film felt like it was taking quite a long time for it to get going. This involved Mattie trying to hire Cogburn to track down Chaney, but it also included a rather long court scene in which Cogburn was a witness. I suppose this was just a longwinded way of helping to establish his character as a bit of a reckless marshal, but it did lead to an urge for the story to proceed.
For a while, it felt like the second act was going to do something very similar, leading to the fear that the whole movie was going to be rather uneventful and end up with a story that was not the most exciting, but although the middle of the film doesn’t have a lot going on, it gives us a chance to really get to know the characters. Mattie ends up being a lot tougher than she looks. In her determination to join the search, she takes her horse directly into a river in order to join the two men on the other side. Later on, we see just how tough she gets when they encounter the gang.
Mattie had hired Rooster Cogburn because she was told that he supposedly has something called “true grit.” We are never really given a definition of what that is, but we can imagine it is a form of toughness that he displays throughout the film. Cogburn is an expert marksman, at least, most of the time he is. One fascinating scene shows how he and LaBoeuf try to outdo each other by firing their pistols at tiny morsels of food that are thrown into the air. This is in response to a whiskey bottle that Cogburn had thrown into the air, but missed several times before shooting it on the ground.
From this, we see how important it is for Cogburn to keep up the appearance of being the best, despite being quite old. Also from this, we learn how skilled LaBoeuf is as a marksman. Of the three, his character is the most mysterious. All we know is that he is a ranger from Texas trying to hunt down Chaney. His devotion to duty has brought him this far and will stop only when the job is done, or becomes impossible.
One of the main concerns about this film was how Jeff Bridges would portray Cogburn. Some thought he would try to imitate the Duke’s performance, others thought he would bungle it completely, but somehow he manages to find his own way of playing the character that works marvelously and realistically. He’s a tough character, but we slowly see how there’s a lot more to him than his outward appearance shows.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the film is the performance of Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie Ross. She was apparently chosen out of 15, 000 actresses for the part, and it’s hard to imagine that they could have found better. She brings out the sharp determination of the character splendidly. Her performance goes really well with the idea of how the characters’ appearance can be deceiving. She may not look tough, but she has a lot more at stake than just some reward money. She’s after a chance at revenge.
In the end, “True Grit” isn’t really the action film that the trailers make it seem to be. It’s more a study of these three characters, their purposes, and what they’re capable of. There are large parts of it that are uneventful and it may not rank among the Coen Brothers’ greatest works, but their new adaptation of the Portis novel is intriguing to watch, beautifully filmed, and well worth taking a look at for the fascinating characters. 3/4 stars.
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BECK AT THE MOVIES: 'True Grit'
Newcomer Shows Surprising Toughness
By Jeff Beck
Special to Huntingtonnews.net
Richmond, VA (HNN) - Before watching this new version of “True Grit,” I debated as to whether or not I should rewatch the original adaption that starred John Wayne in the role for which he won his only Oscar, but after doing some reading, I learned that this new version from the Coen Brothers was supposed to be a closer adaptation of the book by Charles Portis. This made me choose in favor of going into this film without rewatching the original, which I’ve only seen once, and probably all the better for having a fresh perspective on this film.
The film begins with Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) recalling how her father had been killed by a man named Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin). After claiming her father’s body, she seeks help from a local marshal, Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges), who is supposedly the meanest marshal around, which is exactly the kind of man Mattie is looking for to help her track down Chaney. Once he is hired, he takes off after Chaney in the company of a Texas Ranger, LaBoeuf (Matt Damon), who is also after Chaney for the murder of a senator. Mattie, annoyed that she has been left behind, hops on a horse and immediately catches up to them.
After some hesitation from Cogburn and LaBoeuf, she joins in the search. On their journey into Indian territory, they attempt to seek out the location of a gang that Chaney has taken up with lead by Lucky Ned Pepper (Barry Pepper). They must be on their guard for they never know who they will run into this far into the wilderness whether it be a strange dentist dressed as a bear, or dangerous men who could lead them to the gang.
The Coen Brothers very rarely disappoint, and their rendition of “True Grit” was no exception, though at one point, it was surprisingly close. The first act of the film felt like it was taking quite a long time for it to get going. This involved Mattie trying to hire Cogburn to track down Chaney, but it also included a rather long court scene in which Cogburn was a witness. I suppose this was just a longwinded way of helping to establish his character as a bit of a reckless marshal, but it did lead to an urge for the story to proceed.
For a while, it felt like the second act was going to do something very similar, leading to the fear that the whole movie was going to be rather uneventful and end up with a story that was not the most exciting, but although the middle of the film doesn’t have a lot going on, it gives us a chance to really get to know the characters. Mattie ends up being a lot tougher than she looks. In her determination to join the search, she takes her horse directly into a river in order to join the two men on the other side. Later on, we see just how tough she gets when they encounter the gang.
Mattie had hired Rooster Cogburn because she was told that he supposedly has something called “true grit.” We are never really given a definition of what that is, but we can imagine it is a form of toughness that he displays throughout the film. Cogburn is an expert marksman, at least, most of the time he is. One fascinating scene shows how he and LaBoeuf try to outdo each other by firing their pistols at tiny morsels of food that are thrown into the air. This is in response to a whiskey bottle that Cogburn had thrown into the air, but missed several times before shooting it on the ground.
From this, we see how important it is for Cogburn to keep up the appearance of being the best, despite being quite old. Also from this, we learn how skilled LaBoeuf is as a marksman. Of the three, his character is the most mysterious. All we know is that he is a ranger from Texas trying to hunt down Chaney. His devotion to duty has brought him this far and will stop only when the job is done, or becomes impossible.
One of the main concerns about this film was how Jeff Bridges would portray Cogburn. Some thought he would try to imitate the Duke’s performance, others thought he would bungle it completely, but somehow he manages to find his own way of playing the character that works marvelously and realistically. He’s a tough character, but we slowly see how there’s a lot more to him than his outward appearance shows.
Perhaps the biggest surprise of the film is the performance of Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie Ross. She was apparently chosen out of 15, 000 actresses for the part, and it’s hard to imagine that they could have found better. She brings out the sharp determination of the character splendidly. Her performance goes really well with the idea of how the characters’ appearance can be deceiving. She may not look tough, but she has a lot more at stake than just some reward money. She’s after a chance at revenge.
In the end, “True Grit” isn’t really the action film that the trailers make it seem to be. It’s more a study of these three characters, their purposes, and what they’re capable of. There are large parts of it that are uneventful and it may not rank among the Coen Brothers’ greatest works, but their new adaptation of the Portis novel is intriguing to watch, beautifully filmed, and well worth taking a look at for the fascinating characters. 3/4 stars.
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