For the purposes of this review please bear in mind I haven't seen the original in some time nor have ever read the book.
I'm not a massive fan of the remake. Even in a film I don't care about much. Not being harsh on the original True Grit, but when I heard that the Coen Brothers were remaking it with Jeff Bridges in the lead role, I wasn't exactly going to start a Facebook campaign boycotting it.
Along with David Fincher, The Coens are the directors that can do no wrong for me. OK, there was a rough patch a few years ago with Intolerable Cruelty (which I actually dug) and the ill advised Ladykillers remake. But look at the rest: Blood Simple, Raising Arizona, Barton Fink, The Hudsucker Proxy (Underrated), Miller's Crossing, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, O Brother Where Art Thou?, The Man Who Wasn't There, Burn After Reading, A Serious Man and for me one of the greatest films ever made: No Country For Old Men.
These guys could direct a guy reading a phone book and I'd be there.
I am pleased to say you can add True Grit to that list of classics. It's almost natural that they ended up directing it. Everything about it is so 'Coen'. From the themes of vengeance to the bizarre character names.
To rob a pun from another review - The Dude trumps The Duke. Jeff Bridges is superb as Rooster Cogburn, the Marshal hired by a young girl (Hailee Steinfeld) to find Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin - who isn't in this half as much as you would think) the murderer of her father. Cogburn is 'assisted' by LaBoeuf (Matt Damon), a Texas Ranger who has been on Chaney's trail for years.
The bulk of the film is mainly films with Damon, Bridges and newcomer Steinfeld and they just work together so well you want them to just do road movies together for as long as possible. Steinfeld is brilliant in the biggest role of her career, and I wouldn't be surprised at all if there is an upset at the Oscars.
As you'd expect from the Coen's everything is just perfect. Carter Burwell's score, the gorgeous cinematography, the script which while being serious, has some incredibly funny moments in.
It's watching films like this that remind me why I love cinema in the first place. And with this, The Social Network, The King's Speech, The Fighter and Toy Story 3 all battling for Best Picture at the Oscar's - I think one day we will look back in amazement at this year.
*****
The Coen Brother's do it again with another masterpiece. Yeah, it's a remake. But for once a remake shines. And trumps the original, which I have seen and barely remember. This I will never forget.
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