True Grit

True Grit (2010) is a Western Drama in which 14-year-old Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) travels to a distant town in the Old West to collect the dead body of her murdered father. It's made clear that he was killed by one of his own hired hands, Tom Chaney, who also stole some of his California gold. Mattie is determined to find the murderer and bring him to justice, since she believes the law will not. Out of three reccomendations, she chooses to hire Deputy U.S. Marshall Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges), because he is described as being the most malicious and nonforgiving- with real "true grit" about him. Sitting on his trial, she learns that he doesn't have a care for human life if he believes them to be guilty. He can't even keep track of the number of men he's killed in the line of duty. She pursues him, but he refuses to accept her offer, but Mattie won't hear of it-- she's quick-witted, clever, and well-educated. Sleeping in with an elderly woman at an inn, she's approached by Texas Ranger LaBoeuf (Matt Damon) who tells her to go home- he's hot on the trail of Tom Chaney, and has been ever since he killed a senator in Waco, Texas. She tells him that he's neglected to catch him so far, so she will stick with Rooster. There's tension between the two of them, as he doesn't take kindly to being lectured by a small girl. She convinces Rooster to work for her with her keen tongue and smart logic. He tells her to leave $50 and come back at 7AM the next day, but when she does, he's gone. She follows him to the river and forces her horse, Little Blackie, to swim across. When she gets over there she finds that LaBoeuf and Rooster have teamed up as LaBoeuf suggested, and she has to take both or nothing if she wants to find the man who killed her father. But with the tension mounting between the three of them, on a dustry trail in the mountains where you might rely on your friends to survive, can she handle the journey to bring the murderer to justice?

This film is a remake of the 1969 True Grit directed by Henry Hathaway and starring John Wayne. Both movies are adaptations of the 1968 novel by Charles Portis, also called True Grit. This particular adaptation was written by Joel and Ethan Coen, who also directed it. With the exception of Burn After Reading, this is the first Coen Brother's production I have seen. The Coen Brothers have also written such classics as The Big Lebowsky, and No Country for Old Men. This film was rumored to be in the works in 2008, but it went unofficially confirmed until March, 2009. They were admittedly drawn to the character of Mattie, even though she has certain dislikeable qualities, they admired her. It reached the number 1 spot in the box office in its third week running, and has a "soft" PG-13 rating, atypical for the Coen Brothers, which they and President of Paramount Pictures attribute parcially to the success of the film. It's currently nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Art Direction, Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Sound Editing at The Academy Awards.

Now, let me start by saying, I am not necessarily a fan of Westerns. I am also not necessarily a fan of The Coen Brothers' work. I have only seen one other thing they have to show for themselves, Burn After Reading, and I thought it was a little... boring. It looked like it would be funny, but it wasn't. Maybe it's just my sense of humor. When it comes to True Grit, or any movie that has already been done, I have a personal feeling that when a movie is made- it's made... stop making it. It's been done. Move on. Grow a brain. Use the imagination that should hopefully be located somewhere inside it. But, let me also say, I LOVED The Dark Knight which is a film that has been done, and was based on a comic before that. So... good things can come of the process. For me, True Grit was not one of those good things. Honestly... I'm a little dumbfounded as to why it's so popular, and why it's doing so well. I look at the list of things it's been nominated for and just think... no! How is that possible? It's not even FAIR to nominated a movie like this for Best Writing. I'm sorry, no. The writing has been done and done and DONE again! If you're going to do it yet AGAIN, it should be fucking perfect. This isn't. This movie is boring. Act 2 had me lost going "There's still an hour left? Wtf?!" Nothing even HAPPENS in this movie. More happens in The King's Speech and it's based on a man who can't even talk, and is trying to. Are you kidding me with this? It has nothing to do with the Southern feel, which I actually enjoyed in this film, or going in biased about The Coen Brothers, because I didn't have enough background to judge them before now.

Best Costume? Really? What costumes? It could have been 100% better than it was, in my opinion. It's all just... boring. The movie is called True Grit but there's very little about it that seems "true" or "gritty." None of it is hard to watch- with their 'soft' rating, and it's not exactly gritty either. I will say that I did think Hailee Steinfeld did a good job- I did admire her performance, and did enjoy the character that was played. But, it's not like she didn't have a reference- or TWO- and because of that, it should have blown me away. I have very high standards when it comes to remakes, because there's not a lot left to be original, so you better fix what was done wrong in the first place. I admittedly have not seen the original, so maybe it's absolutely terrible, and therefore this one is a Godsend... but I sort of doubt it.

I liked the soundtrack of this movie, a lot, so I wouldn't mind it taking home some sound awards. Anything else it gets, I'll have to be upset about. I wanted to see this movie, based on the commercial I saw. It looked like it was going to be really interesting, adventurous and captivating. It... wasn't any of those things. All of the other nominees have been so good, until now, that it would be a little insulting if this is chosen. Everyone seems to enjoy this movie, so maybe there's just something wrong with me, but I wouldn't reccomend this movie to any of my friends or family members- even my father, who likes Westerns. I don't think there's anything special or memorable out this, which means it's not Award worthy, and it's CERTAINLY not deserving of "Best Picture" of the friggen year. (I bet some of you were wondering if I gave bad reviews until this point. I do... when it's deserved.) But, I still say that anyone in the field of film should give the movie a view, because even though I don't think it deserves an award, someone certainly does, and it's a good point of reference for those who want to crack into the field.