True Grit
Posted by benjamin on April 29, 2011
Welcome to a new segment style review where I take a look at those that came before and those that are here now. Remake versus Original. There are thousands out there and I’m here to determine which wins on the rectangular screen.
Director: Ethan Coen and Joel Coen
Rating: PG-13
Release: 2010
Language: English
Runtime: 110 minutes
A young business savy girl hires an old marshal, one with “true grit”, to find the coward who shot and killed her father in order to bring him to justice.
Original
Growing up with a father that loved Westerns, I was always encouraged to sit down and enjoy the great John Wayne. Well looks like I finally took the advice because John Wayne shined as the drunken, grizzly marshal. It was a performance worthy of nominations and his eventual wins.
But John Wayne is not the only shining individual within this movie. As much as the film relies on Rooster Cogburn (Wayne), it also relies on the headstrong young girl who hired him. Kim Darby held her own on screen and the relationship between child and man grew from it. My only complaint with Darby’s Mattie Ross was that for someone with a father that was just killed she often seemed more excited to be on the journey to find her father’s killer than to actually bring that man to justice.
Often as it is with the classics, I love to be surprised by other famous actors that I did not realize were in the movie when I initially start it. True Grit offers two more greats in the form of Robert Duvall and Dennis Hopper. Duvall is hard to miss but I definitely missed Hopper so I’ll have to line myself up for another viewing.
As good as this Western was, it was made during a time period where Westerns can often be campy and that’s not my preference. The G rating alone should have been my first sign but the opening music and credits solidified it only seconds into the movie.
Campy, but that’s the time period.
Remake
If this is the Coen’s Western, then sign me up. This was a Western that didn’t feel like a Western. It had all of the proper elements but something was missing that me believe it was a non-Western Western by being a Western. Not sure what that means but I do know that it means something good was on that screen in front of me. I’ll even step forward and request that they continue making films in this genre.
Just like the original, the film is defined by the marvelous 3 of Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges), La Boeuf (Matt Damon) and Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) and this trio shine like no other. It is the collection of moments on screen when all three are together and interacting with one another when I was the most enthralled by the story. These characters were brought to life before my eyes. Having seen the remake prior to the original, I didn’t realize that I was seeing actors make characters their own but still provide some of the needed characterizations that were brought by those actors that came before.
Now with this trio, one would expect greatness from Damon and Bridges, but it is Steinfeld who truly stole the show. Many newcomers would fall flat on their face when faced with her opposition, but at many times she stole the screen from many other seasoned actors. I honestly believe that the Coen dialog was what elevated her further. Her nomination was well deserved and hopefully there will be more great films and awards in her future.
As much as this film gave me, one of the defining scenes was a huge let down because of the way it was shot. As Mattie and Rooster rode off together, the scene looked campy and over the top instead of the raw and real look that accompanied the entire rest of the movie. The original True Grit shot this with the actors on real horses riding through the countryside. It added so much while the updated version lost so much more.
The Winner
I had to pick a winner so I went with the Remake. I, of course, loved pieces of each more than the other, but in the end, the Remake seemed to provide me more of the elements that I wanted to enjoy. It was the complete package of dialog, performances, and visuals.
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