True Grit (2010)

Movie: True Grit (2010)

Cast:    Jeff Bridges (Rooster Cogburn)
Matt Damon (LaBoeuf)
Hailee Steinfeld (Mattie Ross)

            Josh Brolin (Tom Chaney)

Genre: Western

I saw it on: December 23, 2010

Synopsis: Fourteen-year-old Mattie Ross is town to collect the remains of her father.  Her father was murdered by the evil Tom Chaney.  Mattie hires the U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn to track down Chaney and bring him to justice.  Cogburn is old, over-weight and drinks too much – but he is for hire and has a reputation for ruthlessness that convinces Mattie he can do the job.  Rooster is less than happy that Mattie expects to accompany him.  He tries unsuccessfully to ditch her, then is resigned to her accompanying him.

Texas Ranger LaBoeuf has been tracking Chaney for over a year for the murder of a Texas politician.  He offers his services to Mattie, who turns him down.  He strikes a separate deal with Cogburn and joins the two of them in hunting Cheney.  Things get a bit dicey during the hunt, with a number of shootouts culminating in a showdown/shootout between Cogburn and four members of Chaney’s gang.

My two cents: A good old fashioned western.  Jeff Bridges makes a great Rooster Cogburn.  I was particularly impressed with Hailee Steinfeld (Mattie Ross) – she was only thirteen when this film was shot.  I would imagine for someone her age it would be a bit intimidating to work with two Oscar winning actors.  If she was intimidated, Hailee hid it pretty well.  I thought she put in a great performance and more than held her own in the movie.

The depiction of the west was definitely grittier (no put intended) than most westerns.  I get tired of westerns where the worst the cowboys get is little dusty, and usually but manage to look like they just got dressed in new clothes and had a shower and shave.  In this movie, you have to wonder how many months it has been since Cogburn has changed his clothes.  It was also nice to see that not all good guys always hit what they shoot at.

I don’t really remember much from the John Wayne True Grit, but I think it would probably rank as a little better than this one.  That said, I had a lot of fun with this movie.  The dialogue is especially enjoyable.  It makes you realize just how much a movie can be improved with great dialogue. There are a lot of laughs to be had.  I found myself looking forward to the next exchange between Mattie and whoever had the misfortune to cross verbal swords with her.