True Grit

The Brothers Coen have gone back to the novel for their inspiration for this version of True Grit, and the result ranks along side No Country for Old Men as the brothers’ best work and the best movie I have seen all year.

Fourteen-year-old Mattie (played with true grit by newcomer Hailee Steinfeld) hires boozing Federal Marshall Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) to track her father’s killer and return him to Arkansas for trial and a just hanging. They are accompanied into Indian territory by a Texas Ranger, played by Matt Damon, in pursuit of the fleeing villain.

First and foremost, True Grit should not be compared with the previous film version, as it is neither a remake nor a “reimagining.” Despite its origins, this version, adapted, produced, edited and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, manages to remain quite Coenesque, if there is such a term: unconventional, with quirky dialogue and action peppered with offbeat humor and sudden acts of brutal violence. The story, a straightforward narrative, is augmented by nice characterizations and terrific performances.

Jeff Bridges delivers an Oscar-worthy performance as the crusty Cogburn, a complex man whose true character remains in question until the film’s bitter end. Matt Damon is adequate as the Texas Ranger who also seeks a reward for the capture of Tom Chaney, and Josh Brolin is in fine form as Chaney. But it’s Hailee Steinfeld who carries this movie in a remarkable performance worthy of an Oscar nomination. (I will be surprised if she does not receive one.) It takes a great deal of moxie for a young teen to steal a scene from the likes of Bridges, Damon and Brolin, and Steinfeld manages to more than hold her own with all three.

Roger Deakins’s cinematography is suburb and sweepingly beautiful at times, and the Coens’ writing and direction are crisp and move the action along quite nicely. Though the dialogue may seem stilted at times, the cast makes it work, and the end result may have its flaws, but they are too few and too minor to nitpick over. True Grit is a remarkable movie.