True Grit is a True Wonder!

The Coen brothers have re-made the classic film.

It has been 40 years since John Wayne was in the western film True Grit. Now Academy Award winners Joel and Ethan Coen, who directed No Country for Old Men and O brother, where art thou? have filmed re-made this classic.

True Grit is the story of young Mattie Ross, whose father was killed by the murderous Tom Cheney. She goes out on a vengeful quest to bring Cheney back to civilization to be hanged. She is accompanied by the US Marshall Rooster Cogburn, who Ross has hired, and Texas ranger LaBoeuf, who has been chasing Cheney for months. The party must battle criminals and learn to get along to reach their common goal: Cheney.

True Grit is a remake of the 1970 film, which was an adaptation of the Charles Portis novel. The Coen brothers have managed to remake this film very effectively. Although this film is visually-impressive and well-made, the true gem of this movie is its powerful performances. Jeff Bridges has taken John Wayne’s role as Rooster Cogburn, the drunken Marshall that agrees to hunt Cheney down. Bridges portrays the role extremely well, portraying everything I  think this character would be. Hailee Steinfield, a newcomer to cinema, manages to put on a performance equal to the ones given by Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon, which were fantastic.

Benefiting from the Coen Brothers’s stylish direction and a trio of excellent performances by Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, and Hailee Steinfield, True Grit is a violent, yet still emotionally- resonant remake. I give True Grit a score of 31/2 out of 4 stars.

-Del H