"True Grit" & my FIRST opinion



I adore the Coen Brothers. They are right up there with the very best of American filmmaking. Which is of course why I found True Grit (★★½ ) a true disappointment. Then again films by these incredibly talented brothers sometimes take more than one viewing to fully digest, which means you could take this review and read it with a grain of salt. In their retelling of the Charles Portis Novel of the same name -already filmed as a John Wayne vehicle in 1969- the brothers come up short by their standards. Don't get me wrong, this is a film that has many highs in its conventionality but I felt there was something missing. The raw dark satire that had infused many of their best films from No Country For Old Men to last year's top ten beaut A Serious Man is missing, replaced by a Wonderful World Of Disney vibe that sadly sticks during the film's entire duration. Jeff Bridges takes over the John Wayne role as Rooster Cogburn, a bad ass alcoholic deputy Marshall that is convinced by a 14 year old girl (Hallie Steinfeld) to find her father's killer. Bridges shines and Steinfeld is twice as good in a role that might just lead to a fruitful career for her. High praise should also go to Matt Damon, who follows the duo in their journey, looking for the same man but for different reasons. It's the Coen's the disappoint, maybe it's because we expect them to churn out great movies every year or maybe it's because we would never associate conventionality in their flmmography, sadly, True Grit falls in that category but I can't say I didn't like it.