Thursday, January 6, 2011

True Grit


Last year I watched the original version of True Grit starring John Wayne and thought it was okay, but I wasn't too impressed. I've been looking forward to see how Jeff Bridges portrays Rooster Cogburn in this remake. After watching his performance, I have to admit that I was very impressed. True Grit is an amazing movie and one of the best I have seen in years.

The Coen Brothers adaption has their trademark style to it. There are ten times as many goofy and quirky characters in this movie that in Napolean Dynomite. All of the characters are very intriguing and entertaining. The acting was great and I also appreciated the dialogue too.

Bridges did an amazing job of portraying the crusty old Ranger. Damon was also great and I hardly recognized him in his role. I loved the banter between the two lawmen throughout the movie. There are some great quotes in this movie and I was surprised at how much humor there was for such a serious plot. Hailee Steinfeld plays the young girl who hires Cogburn to track down her father's murderer and bring him to justice. She personified "true grit" more than any other character. She was the main reason I liked this version so much more than the original.

The only two minor hangups I had with this movie was the encounter with the "bear dentist" who spoke like he was tripping on LSD and the abrupt ending. Aside from that, I was mesmerized during every scene and have not seen such an entertaining movie in a long time.

This is one of the few movies I have seen where I didn't find myself criticizing the movie for hard to believe effects or story line. It is very graphic and has a very realistic feel to it. I give True Grit 9.0 well deserved stars.

3 comments:

MikkSolo said...

Looks like this is a must see for me. Heard nothing but good. I don't think I've seen you review a movie with a 9.0 yet. True?

Tom said...

You are correct, but now you have to deal with all the hype you have been hearing so I hope your expectations are not too high. I don't know how someone could not love this.

Cheeseboy said...

Watched this one last night. I was surprised how much I laughed through the entire thing. It was really, really funny! I'd rank it this high as well.

 
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