Fourth Row Center

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 straight