Movie List 2011- 5.) True Grit

True Grit (2010)
I guess I should start out by saying that I've never seen the original.  I think I might have seen bits and pieces in passing, and I've seen quite a bit of the original's sequel Rooster Cogburn... though I don't remember too many details.  What I do remember is that Rooster Cogburn seemed a but farcical and overall pretty lighthearted.  I can only imagine the original True Grit was done in the same manner.  And if that is the case, then I doubt it is anywhere near as good as the Coen Brothers' version.  The Coens' True Grit was a movie that had... well grit.  And that grit was used to great effect.  The Coens claim that they didn't make a remake of the movie, but instead consulted the source material and dreamed up their own version of the book.  If that's true, then the book must be one rough and tumble novel.  But... and this is important... great fun as well.  I'm really tempted here to keep going back to the well of comparison between the 2010 and 1969 version.  I probably should get a grip on that because a.) that's not really a great indicator of whether a movie is any good... sure, it may be better than its predecessor but is it good in it's own right? and b.) again, I've never seen it.

So taking this one on it's own what do we have?  A great western action flick, that's for sure.  Loved the action, loved the tone of the movie, and loved the performances.  But I think the thing that was most mesmerizing was the dialogue... the words pouring out of the actors and actresses.  At first there was a bit of a disconnect... the words themselves seemed so... well different... in that I mean the manner of the speaking, the way the words were strung together.  It seemed... forced... and yet...at the same time it all seemed natural in how it was presented.  It wasn't like the actors were forcing these strange sentences out... but that they naturally just talked... differently (yes, I realize folks talked differently "back then" but this presentation just seemed...unique... somehow... and not in a bad way).  And once I got into the swing and rhythm of it, the dialogue became entrancing.  Kinda began to wish I could pull that all off.  The real master of the Coens' script was actually 13-year old Hailee Steinfeld.  She ends up giving a performance well beyond her years.  Great stuff and well deserving of the Oscar nomination (but supporting???).  I don't know where they found her, but kudos there.  But, of course, she's not alone in offering some great acting.  Jeff Bridges was fantastic chewing up and spitting out the Coen's script.  Awesome.  It was like he was made for the role. Really.  Hard to imagine anyone else pulling THIS version of the Rooster off so naturally.  Another deserving Oscar nod.  And watching the increasingly grizzled vet trade stellar line after stellar line with the new kid on the block was fantastic to sit back and enjoy.  Those scenes, where Rooster and Mattie engage in verbal sparring matches were the best part of the movie.  Well that and Rooster subtly shredding his partner/rival LaBoeuf  (Matt Damon, pretty darn good here as well).  Again, awesome stuff.

Oh I guess I should explain more about the story.  And an intriguing story it was... as I imagine it was in the first effort... it's pretty straightforward: Mattie hires Rooster to track down the cretin that killed her father and bring said cretin to justice... in Arkansas... meanwhile LaBoeuf has been on the same cretin's trail for crimes committed in Texas and if he can bring the bastard back to Texas, he stands to cash in bigtime.  He and Rooster- falling into and out of partnership- chase the guy into Indian Country where some damn fun action ensues.  Bam.  Simple yet good storying.  See, the thing is, I like Westerns.  I especially like a certain kind of Western.  I like the gritty kind.  Where swagger is more a matter of life and death than of looking good.  And I certainly don't mind when the grittiness is accompanied by a degree of fun.  Think Tombstone.  Or Open Range... or to a lesser degree, Young Guns (guilty pleasure)... heck even Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid- heavy on the fun- had a pretty decent overtone of gravitas.  And if there is going to be one or the other, why not go for the grit and edge... like Unforgiven- which is a damn good movie itself.  I'm less interested in the Westerns where the good guys are something like gun toting dandies and the bad guys are tall dark and Italian/Mexican.  Thankfully, the Coens know how to wed edge and entertainment and come out with a real winner here.

Now, I realize, there may be some folks out here who think I've shit on the Duke's grave.  Especially when I say it seems like Jeff Bridges was made for the role of Rooster.  Again, I can only draw on my experience of seeing PART of Rooster Cogburn.  And it just seemed like the whole time it was John Wayne prancing about in a long coat, cowboy hat and eye patch... but it was definitely John Wayne.  I'm not saying that the movie itself was shit or that John Wayne wasn't fun and entertaining.  I'm certainly not saying that about True Grit (1969).  What I'm saying is that John Wayne seemed- in most of his roles- to be John Wayne.  Again nothing intrinsically wrong with that.  But Jeff Bridges seemed to really inhabit the role of Rooster Cogburn.  I do suppose an argument can be made that this grizzled, washed-up wise-ass is who Jeff Bridges is these days (judging by the wide variety of similar roles he has taken lately) and so really this is just a matter of Jeff Bridges being the Jeff Bridges of the last 15 years or so.  I suppose it is true that Rooster could have been the great-great-great grandfather of Bad Blake from Crazy Heart...and there was also an element of Dude-ness to the character.  I would argue... and it is a subtle point... that perhaps Bridges keeps being cast in these roles because he is so damn good at them.  I don't think Bridges is a gruff alcoholic in real-life.  I believe he is a much sunnier person.  But even that is moot.  The fact is, when I watch Jeff Bridges in these roles, he disappears into the character.  In the roles that I've seen John Wayne play (admittedly a small sample size... which- again- does not include the first go around of True Grit), it more seems like the character bends towards John Wayne. (Much the same way that Tom Hanks' characters often do the same... or Vince Vaughn).  It's almost like Rooster Cogburn is doing a John Wayne impression.  I don't know.  Again, I want to stress that there is nothing inherently wrong with that.  It works sometimes and sometimes it doesn't.  In this case- at least in the way the Coens drew it up- Jeff Bridges was the right guy, giving the right performance in a great- if not "right" gritty/fun version of True Grit.

Grade: A