True Grit (2010)

'You go for a man hard enough and fast enough, he don't have time to think about how many's with him; he thinks about himself, and how he might get clear of that wrath that's about to set down on him'


I went and saw True Grit with no expectations.  I never saw the John Wayne version, so I had nothing to compare it to.  I have seen very few Coen Brother's projects, so I had no expectations of directorial style.


I loved this movie.


I have a love/hate relationship with Westerns.  Out of the past few years, I have not come across many that I truly love.  Appaloosa, 3:10 to Yuma, et al were ok, but not great.  By the same token, I LOVE The Quick and the Dead (Sam Raimi).  I wanted to like Once Upon A Time In The West, but never been able to make it all the way through.  I want to like The Man With No Name Trilogy, but have been very reluctant to see them because they are in the style of Once Upon A Time In The West.


But I digress.


From beginning to end, this movie was very well done.  Tense, fast paced, and at times funny.  The casting was perfect.  Jeff Bridges played the drunk US Marshall to the hilt.  I'm pretty sure he channeled some of The Dude.  Matt Damon was such an ass.  Its rare that I see a movie with him playing an ass, but he did it well.


Hailee Steinfeld was great in this movie.  She earned her Best Supporting Actor nomination.  With the strong personalities of Cogburn and LeBeouf, Miss Steinfeld's Mattie was the glue that held this movie together.  Another well deserved nomination was Mr. Bridges Best Actor nomination.  I think that Mr. Damon should have gotten a nod for Best Supporting actor, but since the Academy doesn't ask for my vote, I'll just bitch about it a little.


Of minor note is Barry Pepper and Josh Brolin as the two baddies.  They weren't in the movie long, but that played their respective roles well.


Again, I really enjoyed this movie.  I will seek out the original John Wayne and see how they compare.  I'd like to see this movie take a couple of Oscars, but for that we will have to wait and see.