For all their many ecccentricities, no one could ever accuse the Coens of not being fine filmmakers. Indeed, it’s testament to their singular talents (and long-tail box office returns) thet True Grit was made at all.
Seriously, would any major studio really budget a western (let alone one so strongly tied with John Wayne’s 1969 version -very much a product of its time) if they weren’t betting on the jingle-jangle of Oscar gold in the future?
Luckily for the execs, the Coens pull off their first fully-fledged western in spectacular style, Charles Portis’ indulgently cinematic novel represented perfectly through Ethan and Joel’s penchant for subtle sepia hues and singular, often bizarre characterisation.
Jeff Bridges continues his long run of laid back, supremely naturalistic acting as drunken US Marshall Rooster Cogburn, and it’s truly astonishing that he takes a role previously indelibly stamped with The Duke’s mark and makes it wholly his own.
As the ‘One eyed fat man’, his irascible character slowly thaws, revealing a history of heartbreak and hard times through anecdotes and actions. Bridges is comical, wry and deeply, powerfully human, and will surely be heading towards more nods come awards season. It’s hard to imagine another actor managing to make kicking two small children off a balcony both funny and charming, but The Dude manages it with aplomb.
Backing him up, Matt Damon continues to provide value for money, alternating between amusing, annoying and honourable as vain Texas ranger LeBeouf, his poor shooting and hyperbole a perfect counter to Rooster’s solid, earthy charm.
Likewise, a special nod goes to newcomer Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie Ross. Out to avenge her father’s death she is initially cold, practical and precocious, but brings a winning and natural charm to a wordy role that could easily be jarringly theatrical in the wrong hands. Her coldness finally breaking towards the end of the film when, despite aloofly witnessing terrible violence on the trail, she breaks down and cries at the death of her horse Little Blackie and reveals the vulnerable child beneath her businesslike exterior.
Here, Mattie still comes across as slightly rehearsed, but that’s entirely down to the Coens penchant for precise screwball wordplay, delivered in a wry and affected manner that brings an arch humour to proceedings without ever detaching you from the story or the people.
Likewise, the cinematography is superb. Oddly,at first glance many scenes appear as though they’ve been shot with the small screen in mind, coldly lit forest scenes recalling nothing so much as 90’s TV filmatography. At first it’s a little disturbing -this is supposed to be a western after all, a majestic retelling of the Birth Of America. As the film progresses however, you see this convention is being slyly mocked, the TV styling actually a return tto classic 1960’s Hollywood framing, the directors making a concientious effort to shrug off the shadow that ‘Unforgiven’ has cast over ’serious’ westerns for so long. True Grit may be built on a mythical framework, but it’s skin is resolutely small, detailed and human.
Effortlessly amusing, relentlessly engaging and intelligent and not afraid to show very adult themes while remaining a childlike sense of fun, True Grit is a deserving film that never feels try-hard or worthy. It’s fun, and it can be enjoyed as a Sunday afternoon tea-time TV flick or a massive, tense and moving Oscar contender -and just about everything inbetween.
A fantastic film that kicks off 2011 in real style.
