Now we've had the revisionist western, we've also had the pop culture western and now we have a real return to form, True Grit is true to its roots with a more literary spin of Charles Portis's original tale of a young 14 year old hiring a tired old law man to hunt down her fathers killer.
From the opening shot to the final scene everything moves along with a poetic grace, in a world populated by rich and grizzled characters. This is pure Coen territory with its mixture of humour, rich and sometimes grotesque characters all of which are there to propel the story forwards. No character is wasted in this film even if they have minor roles they are their to shine a light on some facet of the main characters make up.
Roger Deakin's photography brings both mood, time and place to the scenes and the opening scene is stand out. This is just such a rich tale and Jeff Bridges makes the role of Rooster Coburn his own. This is not John Wayne's take on the character this is Bridges with a Coen sensibility.
But the real revelation in this tale is Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie , this is her story afterall and if this role had been miscast then all the effort would have been for nothing. Hailee hits this role out of the park the chemistry between her character and Bridge's Coburn is believable and propels the movie towards its conclusion.
Matt Damon as Texas Ranger Le Boeuf maybe the comic relief but its a brilliant role with some great dialogue to deliver and some painfully comic relief. Barry Pepper is another stand out role unrecognisable as the outlaw Lucky Ned such is the great make-up job they performed on him. Josh Brolin as the dangerously stupid Tom Chaney is understated and memorable.
This is the perfect Coen movie, poetry in motion character and visuals merged into perfection. Wordy but never boring, violent without repulsing the viewer, moody and atmospheric without being boring.
A must see and I can't wait to see how this one fares in the oscar's
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