‘If the kid doesn’t work, there’s no movie’

The Coen Brothers bring their rich inventive writing and directorial flare to a new adaptation of Charles Portis’ 1968 Western classic True Grit

Despite only being 14
Image supplied by: Supplied
Despite only being 14

4 out of 5 stars

Movie: True Grit

Starring: Jeff Bridges, Hailee Steinfeld and Matt Damon

Director: Joel & Ethan Coen (The Big Lebowski, Fargo)

Run Time: 110 minutes

True Grit will remind you of a classic Western—the old, expired and dearly missed genre.

It’s not, however, the typical “Coen” movie with moral transgression, irony and odysseys. True Grit is more faithful to Charles Portis’ 1968 novel of the same name.

True Grit is very audience-accessible—a simple journey into the depths of California, full of the thick, dry terrain that can only remind us of the aura of a Sergio Leone film. This is not a Spaghetti Western, but a more formal, reverent one with an apt story and some tasteful humour.

The highlight of True Grit is Hailee Steinfeld who plays the tough-as-nails Mattie Ross. She lost her father to a slimy bandit, Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin), who is now wanted by the law. Mattie dominates the film with her raw determination and belief that she can wield a gun.

She resorts to hiring the soused and rigid “Rooster” Cogburn (Jeff Bridges), a United States Marshal, to avenge her father. Bridges plays the Wayne role, not as Wayne the Duke, but as Bridges. He’s the unabashed, tough sharpshooter who likes to think he’s still got it. After much negotiation, Cogburn agrees to help and sets off with Texas Ranger La Boeuf (Matt Damon), with Mattie on their tail.

En route, the focus of the film shifts away from the plot—its objective in apprehending characters. I liked that; it’s a blend of Samuel Beckett absurdism and Sam Peckinpah’s vicious, yet always jocular character quarrels. On this journey, the three converse with two troglodytes (which ends in a fingerless affair), four freebooters and a bear-masked horse rider (played by Ed Corbin).

The cinematography, by Roger Deakings, brings that uplifting and spiritual glow of the Western lands. It reminds us why we fell in love with the Western to begin with.

The screenplay, written by both the Coens, is inventive and rich with humour. But, it lacks their familiar punch lines.

I would call this a modest achievement. Shot vividly, but not too indulgently. It depicts its settings right, creates characters cleverly, with some being more interesting than others. What draws us into True Grit is the role of Mattie. For once this is not about a man bringing retribution, but about a girl taking the law and faith into her own hands. Everything else here is effective, but seems to just be going through the motions. Ethan Coen admitted it himself to the New York Times, “We were aware if the kid doesn’t work, there’s no movie.” That’s because it’s not Cogburn, but Mattie who has the true grit.

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