True Grit-2010

Directors Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

Starring Jeff Bridges, Hailee Steinfeld

Scott’s Review #525

Reviewed November 24, 2016

Grade: A-

Having not seen the original 1969 version of True Grit, starring John Wayne, I cannot compare the two, but the 2010 remake is excellent.

I do not profess to be the greatest fan of the western genre, as stereotypes are usually peppered throughout and the good-versus-bad clichés are done to death. Still, True Grit is a different, contemporary western.

Fantastic-looking with numerous big, current stars, humor, and quirkiness.

True Grit is a mainstream (in camera and style) Hollywood Western (the Coen Bros. are usually grittier in their stories), but it’s well made.

The odd supporting characters make this film fantastic, and it has an edge that enamored me.

The film also contains some Quentin Tarantino elements, making it left of center in some ways.

It follows a tomboy-like fourteen-year-old girl, Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld), who narrates the film as she hires an aging U.S. Marshal (Jeff Bridges) to avenge her father’s death.

The story is well told, and the cinematography and attention to detail are great, giving off a crisp feel of really being in the Wild West.

Oscar Nominations: Best Picture, Best Director-Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Best Actor-Jeff Bridges, Best Supporting Actress-Hailee Steinfeld, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design