#14 – TRUE GRIT (2010)
”They tell me your a man of true grit.” - Mattie Ross to Rooster Cogburnhttps://www.youtube.com/v/aOHGKCle-aY72 points on 5 of 13 lists - Highest Ranking: #6 (Johnny Unusual, CJones) Director: Joel and Ethan Coen
Stars: Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, Hailee Steinfeld, Barry Pepper, Domhnall Gleeson, J. K. Simmons
Subgenre: Traditional Western
Girded by strong performances from Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, and newcomer Hailee Steinfeld, and lifted by some of the Coens' most finely tuned, unaffected work, True Grit is a worthy companion to the Charles Portis book. - Rotten Tomatoes Critics Consensus
True Grit is a 2010 American Revisionist Western film directed, written, produced, and edited by the Coen brothers and executive produced by Steven Spielberg. It is the second adaptation of Charles Portis' 1968 novel of the same name. In it, feisty 14 year-old farm girl Mattie Ross (Steinfeld) hires Cogburn, a boozy, trigger-happy lawman (Bridges) after an outlaw named Tom Chaney (Brolin) murders her father. The bickering duo are accompanied on their quest by a Texas Ranger named LaBoeuf (Damon) who has been tracking Chaney for killing a State Senator. As they embark on a dangerous adventure, each character has his or her "grit" tested in different ways. - Wiki
Trivia:The movie was nominated for ten Academy Awards failing to win any and going down in film history as one of the most ever nominated films to not win an Oscar.
In the original True Grit (1969), Rooster Cogburn wears his eye-patch on his left eye. In the remake of True Grit (2010), the eye-patch is worn over Cogburn's right eye.
My Reflections:I was at first a little pissed when talk of a remake surfaced. And I wasn’t sure I wanted to see it, as I feared I’d have my memories trampled on. But I did go, and loved it. Aside from a man dressed as a bear, the Coen’s actually played this straight, less quirky than I expected, which I appreciated. And Steinfeld was a revelation. Just perfect, the right age, the right attitude.
It’s actually kind of a reversed photo negative of the first flick in many ways. (scars and eye patches seen on opposite sides for one). It’s truer to the novel, though that’s not always a good thing. I actually prefer not knowing what became of Mattie. I liked leaving that to my imagination.
Oh, and I disagree with Wiki, while grittier, this isn’t a revisionist western. The appeal of True Grit for me, was that it was one of the last of the old fashioned traditional westerns, in a sea of revisionist, psychological, or European fare. T.G. in ‘69 or 2010 was a refreshing trip back to the genre’s roots.