Disclaimer:
This movie was reviewed due to the involvement of producer Megan Ellison. Ms. Ellison’s production company, Annapurna Productions, outbid Lionsgate and Sony for the rights to the Terminator franchise back in 2011, and her collaboration on True Grit is an example of the potential direction of Terminator 5.
Based on the novel “True Grit” by Charles Portis.
Screenplay:
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen.
Directed by:
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen.
Starring:
Hailee Steinfeld, Josh Brolin, Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon and Elizabeth Marvel.
Synopsis:
“There is no knowing what lies in a man’s heart. On a trip to buy ponies, Frank Ross is killed by one of his own workers. Tom Chaney shoots him down in the street for a horse, $150 cash, and two Californian gold pieces. Ross’s unusually mature and single-minded fourteen-year-old daughter Mattie travels to claim his body, and finds that the authorities are doing nothing to find Chaney. Then she hears of Rooster – a man, she’s told, who has grit – and convinces him to join her in a quest into dark, dangerous Indian territory to hunt Chaney down and avenge her father’s murder.”
Review:
This movie was not advertised as a remake of the 1969 Henry Hathaway film starring John Wayne, but as an adaptation of the Charles Portis novel, and stands truer to the darker resonance of the original story.
True Grit is a western – albeit a contemporary one, with a sense of 21st century style and artistry. The movie isn’t bathed in sunlight and warm verandas (as with the golden age of the western), instead the movie, more often than not, takes place in the biting cold, which plays such a huge part in the atmospherics and tone of the story.
Jeff Bridges takes up the role (played by John Wayne in 1969) of Reuben “Rooster” Cogburn, a fat, old drunkard with an eyepatch living in late 19th century Arkansas, who after a colorful career of gunslinging and rebellion, is now employed as a US marshal, pursuing suspects and fugitives – and he’s none too bothered about civil rights neither.
The life of Rooster Cogburn is turned upside down by a sharply intelligent and determined teenaged girl: Mattie Ross, (Hailee Steinfeld) who hires Rooster to catch Tom Chaney, the man who killed her father,- a man who has absconded into the treacherous Indian Territory of Oklahoma.
The situation is made all the more difficult by a second lawman being on the trail of Tom Chaney; LaBoeuf, a smug and slightly foppish Texan played by Matt Damon…
The mis-matched trio is riddled with tensions; Rooster’s irritated, yet almost affectionate concern for Mattie and their mutual resentment of LaBoeuf’s Texan swagger. Rooster and LaBoeuf bickering about their respective roles in the war and Mattie’s sneaking suspicion that the two men are going to cheat her of vengeance.
This movie has a much darker tone to Hathaway’s: 2010’s Rooster is quieter and more guttural, still a hard-drinking, hard-talking s.o.b but where John Wayne played Rooster with an almost nostalgic warmth, Jeff Bridges‘ performance leans more toward subtle restraint and indifference.
There are even moments of blackly comic humor which will have viewers unsure whether to laugh or feel disgusted, as Bridges’ stomps about with nonchalant brutality.
True Grit is violent, the death toll convinces easily and stylishly but is very much just an aspect of this great movie as a whole. The chemistry is perfect, with Steinfeld’s performance landing on par with the more mature acting talents of Bridges and Damon.
This movie isn’t for the soft-hearted or easily offended (what movie is?), but it is well worth the time spent watching it, even with the *SPOILER* less than happy ending; it manages to shock, amuse and sadden whilst keeping the viewer on their toes as the story progresses. The pacing of the writing ticks along beautifully; the book adapted stunningly and unflinchingly for a new generation of fans.
The directing of True Grit seems perfectly pitched at the Coen brothers, their mix of rough and smooth adds a strangely appealing quality to each and every scene,- drawing an immediate response, whilst maintaining the ability to stay with the viewer a good while afterwards.
Summary:
As a western this movie succeeds where many others have failed and as an adaptation it’s truly staggering. Jeff Bridges does what Jeff bridges always does… something awesome. Matt Damon manages to amuse and annoy in equal measure, and Hailee Steinfeld shines through as face to remember: conveying both warmth and charm in subtle doses.
Beautifully shot, and directed to boot, this movie manages to tug at those heart-strings without appearing too sappy or polished.
Trivia:
- The two Winchester models used in True Grit were 1873 and 1866. The Winchester model used by Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator 2:Judgment Day was model 1887.
- Producer, Megan Ellison’s movie career began back in 2005, when she got the role of boom operator for the short film ‘When All Else Fails’; a thriller written and directed by her brother, David Ellison.
- Josh Brolin plays ‘Tom Chaney’ in True Grit – Tom is responsible for the death of Mattie Ross’ father. Josh was considered for the role of Marcus Wright in 2009’s Terminator Salvation.