After watching the trailer for the Coen brothers' remake of the John Wayne classic of the same name, I was pretty stoked about seeing True Grit. I had to wait a while after its Christmas Day release, but I finally got around to seeing it last night.
True Grit is a good film. I'll say that much. The story kept my interest throughout, and the acting, at least I think, was top notch. The three main characters (Jeff Bridges, Hailee Steinfeld, and Matt Damon) all did a fantastic job. Jeff Bridges really fit into the role of a heavy-drinking, overweight U.S. Marshal. He almost did too good a job. His mumbled speech was sometimes difficult to understand, but wasn't a big problem (would have been if I had seen it with my Chinese girlfriend, it would have been "I don't understand" all evening). Matt Damon (Jason Bourne?) did a good job in is role as well-spoken Texas Ranger. I enjoyed his role a lot. The dialogue was top notch. I thought some of the lines in the movie were brilliant, and actually produced some laugh-out-loud moments (more on that in a minute).
In a way I was a little disappointed, actually. The trailer really made the movie seem like it would be a pretty dark film about the pursuit of the murderer of a child's father. At times the movie ended up being just a little too goofy. Again, I actually liked some of the really clever lines, but I was hoping for a more serious film.I really wanted a truly gritty film (you like how I did that?) Call me a purist, but I think with that kind of plot line, it should produce a different film that what True Grit turns out to be. I was hoping far a dark thriller, and it wasn't really that. Too many light-hearted moments for me (I know that sounds bad). There were also a few moments that I thought kind of defied realism and were a bit hokey. I won't give anything away here though, you can judge for yourself. This didn't ruin the movie by any means, still a very good flick, but I think it could have been even better. Others may feel differently about this though, and think that the Coen brothers' rendition was spot on.
Again, still a very good film, not entirely what I was anticipating, but still gets high marks.
Verdict: See it, its definitely a lot better than some of the other crap in theaters. Grade: A-
If you liked this film you might also like: rolling your own cigarettes and drinking cheap Chinese whiskey (Rooster Cogburn isn't known for his gentleman's status). Oh, and the Coen Brothers' other films, probably like those too.
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