True Grit (2010)

Amy, Jack, Christiana, Simi, and I all liked this enormously, more than I expected. Surprisingly funny, not as blood-soaked as the Coen brothers' usual action, this remake of the revenge Western boasts breathtaking cinematography, plenty of historical set dressing, and old fashioned grammar ("I do not" instead of "I don't"). Amy said today that she particularly liked the character of 14 year old Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld in her feature debut) and enjoyed Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges--I wrote about him in some detail in The Men Who Stare at Goats, then he was in How To Lose Friends & Alienate People and subsequently won his Oscar for Crazy Heart), when he proved to be trustworthy despite his bad habits. For a completely different side of young Miss Steinfeld, watch this excerpt of George Lopez's talk show. We had heard Matt Damon (he was in Invictus and Hereafter after I wrote about him in The Informant!) was going to be funny in it, and he did not disappoint. This is another feather in the cap of the versatile Josh Brolin (covered in You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger) whose character Tom Chaney is not the sharpest knife in the drawer. Ethan and Joel Coen (see my post on A Serious Man, and do see that movie) adapted this screenplay directly from the book by Charles Portis, and I am told it is different from the John Wayne/Kim Darby 1969 version, but I can not vouch for that, because I have not seen the older movie, nor have I read the book.

Unfortunately the lovely Carter Burwell soundtrack is not eligible for an Oscar, as the Academy has deemed it too derivative of the old American folk songs it mimics, but you can listen to parts of it here, and for more, go here and follow the links with the same picture.

You really do not need me to tell you to see this. Despite the tepid review in my local newspaper, 95% of critics and 90% of audience members polled in rottentomatoes have helped push this past Little Fockers to number one at the box office last weekend. Certain to be nominated for many more awards beyond the ones it has already, True Grit is worth your time and money. For some interesting trivia (recommended for reading after seeing the movie), see the official Paramount site, select STORY and then Stunts & Horses (the other tabs are fascinating as well). Oh, and in case you did not know, editor Roderick Jaynes is a pseudonym for Ethan and Joel Coen.