True Grit (2010)

True Grit


“True Grit” takes place in 1878 and finishes 25 years later throughout Arkansas and the South. The main roles of 14 year old Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld), US Marshal Reuben ‘Rooster’ Cogburn (Jeff Bridges), Texas Ranger LeBoeuf (Matt Damon), and fugitive Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin) are all fulfilled magnificently. This is a Coen brothers film, which means it is a drama speckled with action, comedy, and adventure.

The story opens with 14 year old Ross coming to deal with her recently murdered father’s remains. She encounters the local Sheriff at a hanging, followed by business dealings with Col. G. Stonehill, Cogburn, and the local hostel among others. She secures the help of Marshal Cogburn and Ranger LeBoeuf in pursuing her father’s killer, Tom Chaney across Indian lands and open U.S. countryside. Cogburn wants Chaney for the bounty put on his apprehension and LeBoeuf is after Chaney for killing a Texas State Senator. The trio encounters roughnecks, endures injury and shootouts, and faces death head on. They battle each other’s alcoholism and testosterone along the way. Their personalities are written and designed to clash throughout the movie. The “True Grit” title comes from Ross’s description of Cogburn and what she has heard about him.

Viewers initially fall in love with Cogburn as he testifies on the stand at a criminal trial of one of his bounties. This portrayal gives us the feeling he is the model for local Sacramento bounty hunter Leonard Padilla. The likeness is shocking. Cogburn’s storytelling and dialogue is entertaining by itself. As he kicks kids, negotiates deals, tracks Chaney, and testifies, the viewers are entertained and drawn to his character.

Rooster Cogburn’s stories of owning restaurants, presents from his wife, and gunfights in Mexico allow the storyline to flow together as we drift from scenario to scenario in “True Grit.” The Coen brothers are masterminds at blending humor, drama, tales, and peculiar interactions amongst their characters. This film is no different in many ways from their prior films. A wider audience can be taken in by this remake of the 1969 John Wayne original. It reaches the Coens’ “cult followers” as well as the previous generation of western lovers. This film does not end as many of their other films do, yet we still have those particular emotions as with their other movies.

This is another great film in a recent line of quality westerns. For example: There Will Be Blood, 3:10 to Yuma, The Assassination of Jesse James, and others are in the same genre and liking as “True Grit.” The film is PG-13, and that is a lite rating for the amount of violence and content. There was much to love about this film, and little to change. Jeff Bridges does justice to the former role of John Wayne. He fills those large shoes just fine. We don’t get the soundtrack many may have been anticipating, but we do get an amazing feature film. “True Grit” earns 4 out of 5 Cyclones.