Starring: Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, and Hailee Steinfeld
Screenplay written and directed by: Joel and Ethan Coen
"Punishment comes one way or another". Finally, a western, one of my favorite types of movie. There haven't been many (if any) westerns in 2010, but what a way to end the year with an awesome film, "True Grit".
Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) is only fourteen years old when her father is killed by a man named Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin). She wants to avenge her father's murder by bringing Chaney to justice, but the best way to get him is with the help of U.S. Marshal Reuben "Rooster" Cogburn (Jeff Bridges). Soon after they set off to find Chaney, a Texas Ranger named LaBoeuf (Matt Damon) joins them to bring Chaney to justice in Texas for murdering a state senator. Will their mutual benefit to catching Chaney help them or hurt them in finding him? Will he be brought to justice for what he's done?
A positive, the acting. Jeff Bridges never fails to impress me and neither does Matt Damon or Josh Brolin. My complaint about Bridges's character, Cogburn, is that it is hard to understand him much of the time as he does not speak very clearly. He executes his role brilliantly by being one of those completely unemotional tough guys that just seems to do things his way. I was less impressed with Damon's performance although he was still quite good. Being a Texas Ranger doesn't work best for him. However, it is surprising and quite nice to see him do something different from playing the same guy who seems to run away from everything in all of his movies. In short, I'm glad to see him playing something other than the Jason Bourne role. It's too bad that Tom Chaney isn't in the film all that much because Josh Brolin plays him excellently. He seems to always play crazy people, like Dan White in "Milk". But these are good roles for him, and Chaney's character is no different. The Coen brothers cast "True Grit" very well.
I was dissatisfied with the ending of the film. Throughout the film, as we find out more about these characters and how they deal with each other in given situations, we become more attached to them, wondering what's going to happen to them next. This is fine if you end the movie the way audiences think it will end. The problem is that we don't exactly know what happens to these characters at the end of the film except for what happens twenty five years later. The only character we find out about is Mattie Ross because she's the narrator of the film. The ending left me wondering what happened to LaBouef and Chaney. Was Chaney brought to justice, and if not, did LaBouef pursue him again?
In the end, this is an excellent film. In the coming weeks, I hope to see "True Grit" at least get nominated for more awards if not win them. I like how there is a lot of one liners (most of them coming from Cogburn) that make the audience laugh as much of this film is rather unemotional and quite tense. If you're not sure what to expect in the upcoming Academy Awards nominations announcement, think about "True Grit" if you've seen it and if you haven't seen it yet, go see it. After all, it is a western.
4 out of 4 stars.
Screenplay written and directed by: Joel and Ethan Coen
"Punishment comes one way or another". Finally, a western, one of my favorite types of movie. There haven't been many (if any) westerns in 2010, but what a way to end the year with an awesome film, "True Grit".
Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) is only fourteen years old when her father is killed by a man named Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin). She wants to avenge her father's murder by bringing Chaney to justice, but the best way to get him is with the help of U.S. Marshal Reuben "Rooster" Cogburn (Jeff Bridges). Soon after they set off to find Chaney, a Texas Ranger named LaBoeuf (Matt Damon) joins them to bring Chaney to justice in Texas for murdering a state senator. Will their mutual benefit to catching Chaney help them or hurt them in finding him? Will he be brought to justice for what he's done?
A positive, the acting. Jeff Bridges never fails to impress me and neither does Matt Damon or Josh Brolin. My complaint about Bridges's character, Cogburn, is that it is hard to understand him much of the time as he does not speak very clearly. He executes his role brilliantly by being one of those completely unemotional tough guys that just seems to do things his way. I was less impressed with Damon's performance although he was still quite good. Being a Texas Ranger doesn't work best for him. However, it is surprising and quite nice to see him do something different from playing the same guy who seems to run away from everything in all of his movies. In short, I'm glad to see him playing something other than the Jason Bourne role. It's too bad that Tom Chaney isn't in the film all that much because Josh Brolin plays him excellently. He seems to always play crazy people, like Dan White in "Milk". But these are good roles for him, and Chaney's character is no different. The Coen brothers cast "True Grit" very well.
I was dissatisfied with the ending of the film. Throughout the film, as we find out more about these characters and how they deal with each other in given situations, we become more attached to them, wondering what's going to happen to them next. This is fine if you end the movie the way audiences think it will end. The problem is that we don't exactly know what happens to these characters at the end of the film except for what happens twenty five years later. The only character we find out about is Mattie Ross because she's the narrator of the film. The ending left me wondering what happened to LaBouef and Chaney. Was Chaney brought to justice, and if not, did LaBouef pursue him again?
In the end, this is an excellent film. In the coming weeks, I hope to see "True Grit" at least get nominated for more awards if not win them. I like how there is a lot of one liners (most of them coming from Cogburn) that make the audience laugh as much of this film is rather unemotional and quite tense. If you're not sure what to expect in the upcoming Academy Awards nominations announcement, think about "True Grit" if you've seen it and if you haven't seen it yet, go see it. After all, it is a western.
4 out of 4 stars.
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