True Grit

Had a grand old time with Aimee tonight! We met up at lunchtime and went to see True Grit, the Coen Brother’s new film: a Western about a little girl of 14 enlisting two very different law officers to hunt down her father’s killer. For me, it was the Coens’ best film in years – although I didn’t catch No Country for Old Men. It centred on the performance of the young girl playing Mattie, and her turn as the snappy, legal-minded and very stubborn young lady was superb. I hope the young actress goes on to great things now – she was very impressive. The film also continues Jeff Bridges’ transition into one of our most revered older actors and will quite possibly drag Matt Damon out of the noticeable slump he’s been in since Team America’s mocking portrayal (actually, that’s unfair – he was probably in a slump a fair bit before that).

Wikipedia tells me that the film was actually a remake. It was a novel in 1968, made into a film in 1969, for which John Wayne won an Oscar for his portrayal of Rooster. I’d actually quite like to see the original now – although probably not its sequels. Would be interesting to see how different the two adaptations are.

For a 2010 film, though, True Grit was heartfelt, sincere and beautifully shot and acted. It perhaps dragged in the last half-hour with several false endings, but that hardly mattered and was, after all, simply how the novel was written. For a character-based drama with some genuinely hilarious parts as well as some shockingly serious dramatic parts, True Grit was great.