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Alexis Pratt
True Grit 1s the 2010
film adaption of the 1968
novel of the same name.
The novel was adapted
previously, in 1969, into
a film version starring
John Wayne. Although
I’ve never seen the pre-
vious film adaption, I am
rather surprised that any-
one would attempt to re-
- adapt a western starring
John Wayne, let alone
the one which won him
his first Oscar. It seems a
bit like trying to enter-
when the previous act
was Jesus and his whole
“water-to-wine” bit. It
might just be a miracle,
but the 2010 True Grit is
excellent.
The film follows
Mattie Ross (Hailee
Steinfeld), a young girl
from 1800’s Arkansas
seeking justice for her
father, who was mur-
dered by one of his own
farmhands, Tom Chaney
(Josh Brolin). After the
murder Chaney flees into
Indian territory, so
Mattie hard-bargains her
way in a contract with
Reuben “Rooster” Cog-
burn, a U.S. Marshal re-
nowned for his merci-
lessness and rough char-
acter. She also rejects the
offer of a proud and self-
confidant Texas Ranger
named La Bouef, who
has been tracking
Chaney but has failed to
kill him, and wants him
to face justice for a Tex-
as murder. Mattie is res-
olute: either he will hang
in Arkansas, or she will
shoot him herself. Even
when the two men ditch
her and tell her to go
home and churn butter,
Mattie persists. She
chases them down and
proves her strength of
character is indomitable,
and the three embark on
a perilous and thrilling
adventure.
Perhaps what I found
so appealing in True Grit
is that the Coen Brothers
seem utterly. uncon-
cerned with a decon-
struction of the Old
West, or a building upon
its mythos and rituals,
but are solely focused on
the art of telling a good
story. The movie is cap-
tivating and expansive,
brutal and violent, ad-
venturous but mournful.
At the same time, it’s
very funny. The film is
laced with a bleak and
morbid humor, inter-
twined with a regretful
realization: time catches
up with everyone. In one
scene, Cogburn pledges
to bury a dying man, but
in the morning plans to
head off without men-
tioning a burial. Mattie
protests, “But we prom-
ised to bury the poor
soul inside!” His re-
sponse is gruff, pragmat-
ic, and arrestingly funny:
“Ground’s too hard.
= Bonsmmaeo 2)
JEFF BRIDGES
MATT DAMON
JOSH, BROLIN
Them men wanted a de-
cent burial, they should
have got themselves
killed - in. summer.”
about this movie is Hail-
ee Steinfeld’s portrayal
of Mattie Ross, an intel-
ligent young girl with
purely Protestant values.
She might be high-
strung, moralistic, and
judgmental, but unlike
any other woman — let
alone a girl — I have ever
seen. in: a Weston,
Mattie makes meaning-
ful decisions and actions.
She is central to the plot,
not as an object of desire
but as a person. Hailee
Steinfeld’s performance
is so commanding and
subtle, she disappears
entirely into her charac-
ter. I think it might be
harder to say the same
about Jeff Bridges, who
certainly is working
as “the Dude”, and at
times. descends into such
gruff and guttural vocal
depths that I found him
incomprehensible. Still,
his performance as Cog-
burn is wonderfully lay-
ered and rich; he plays a
drunken, washed-up and
grizzled old man with
conviction, his, morality
seemingly in flux
throughout. His sarcasm
and practicality contrast
delightfully against La
Bouef and Mattie, who
are similarly tightly-
wound and self-serious.
Matt Damon is surpris-
ingly difficult to recog-
nize as Le Bouef, and
effectively immerses
himself in the role of a
high-strung, self-
aggrandizing and arro-
gant ranger, and he
blends in as seamlessly
as the rest of the cast.
The tensions between La
Bouef and Cogburn, in
their unlikely pairing, are
beautiful. Mattie strug-
gles with both Cogburn’s
generally ‘uncivil behav-
ior and the unfamiliar
viciousness ‘of the’ wil-
derness, and her endeav-
ors interplay with the
men’s hostilities in a
way I found fascinating.
Ultimately, there is a
brokenness-to the world
that these characters in-
habit: their own flaws
quickly crack any ap-
pearance of purity, and
the West they live in is
so harsh and unforgiving
that even their morals
must adapt or . die.
My ultimate rating: A-
ESSE
ES Ess,
a
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