True Grit: Post Release Discussion

Tough choice, but this is inching out BLACK SWAN and THE SOCIAL NETWORK as the film of the year for me.

If all Hailee Steinfeld did was 'not be Kim Darby', she'd be great in the role, but wow, what a performance. The scene of her haggling over horses with the Colonel was all kinds of wonderful. This is a brilliantly written movie, sometimes sad, damn near comedic and always with that Coen brand charm. The actors deliver their lines like it were as natural to them as sleeping, and under thick accents that never change, either! Bridges is phenomenal, nearly out-Duking the Duke and, unlike Wayne, knowing that this is Mattie's movie. Hell, Deakins and the Coens shoot all the adults from below it seems, adding to their imposing presence to the 14 year old girl.

Just great, wonderfull.

One guy near our group said in an intense breathy whisper, "RIGHT IN THE FACE!!!"

It is a magnificent movie and one of The Coens' best. The Carter Burwell score is excellent. I loved the hanging scene and the Indian kicks. So relentless.

With all due respect to Kim Darby, who I have little against and in fact respect for her own interpretation of Mattie Ross in the first adaptation of True Grit, I think her portrayal of the character is ultimately blown out of the water here. With some exceptions, she did as much as she could against the shifting perspectives of the film, which threw her unceremoniously into the background far too often at the expense of a more consistent character arc, but ultimately, I think Hailee Steinfeld is Mattie. She delivers the dialogue, so snappy and fast, without compromising any of its wit and charm, never falling into the grating stereotypes of a tough, intelligent young woman on a mission that a lesser child actress would. What a great performance.

My favorite bit of the film might be the old man in the grizzly suit. It's not even that his lines are particularly funny--it's that weird staccato wheezing manner of speech he has. The whole audience was in stitches by the end of his speech. Where did they dig that guy up?

Also: "That did not pan out."

While most of the movie is fairly light and fun, I thought it was brutally sad at the end that older Mattie was never able to reunite with Rooster one last time.

Great film. Can't wait to see it again.

TCM is playing the original 'True Grit' (1969) tonight if you want to do a comparison.

Heh, this comment reminded me- True Grit looks great, but as far as remakes of Kim Darby starrers go, it's still not the one I'm most looking forward to seeing. That is all.

So, does anyone else think Roger Deatkins has a shot at scoring an Oscar win with True Grit? In my opinion, the opening shot of the film alone represents some of the finest cinematography of the year, and so Deatkins is, if nothing else, deserving of yet another nomination to acknowledge his artistic contributions here.

Review:

http://chud.com/articles/articles/26...RIT/Page1.html

We loved it, and your ass will too!

"I have something I would like to say before I am hanged."

That moment killed.

Hell yeah! Great review.

If your "technical glitch" is the obvious rear-projection during the final horse ride home, then I agree. It really sticks out. I guess there was no good way to shoot that on location in the darkness.

I was surprised at how little time Josh Brolin has in the film. It has to barely be 10 minutes.

Just got back. With a year full of Black Swan, The Social Network, 127 Hours, The Fighter, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and Kick-Ass, I'm very tempted to say that True Grit might be the boner jam of the year.

It's a Western that's brutal, quirky, funny, emotional, and fucking badass in the way the Coens always deliver. Steinfeld is going to go places, and The Dude effortlessly eclipses The Duke as Cogburn.

You sons of bitches owe it to yourself to fill your hands with this movie.

Just wanted to pop in here and say that I like the tag team reviews a lot more when there are fewer people. It's not that I don't think everyone has something intelligent to offer - just that trying to keep track of more than two people in blocks of text taxes my feeble tiny waferbrain.

See, I liked that the whole gang was chiming in. CHUD has such a great stable of reviewers that it makes the review that much richer.

YMMV, and all that, I guess.

I loved it. That's no surprise. But what gets me excited most is that like most films by the Coens, it looks to be one that will only grow in texture and richness with repeat viewings.

"You are not LeBoeuf."

Loved loved loved loved it! Took my folks to see it, and my old man ate it up. He even went as far to say walking out how it was better than the original.

Side note: the nerd in me was floored to see Jarlath Conroy (Billy from Day of the Dead) as the mortician at the beginning.

If you want to kiss him, that would be alright.

My dad or Conroy?

Either. Or both.

I've been listening to Iris DeMent's version of "Leaning On The Everlasting Arms" on repeat all day.

Bridges reminded me of my old assistant principal from way back in high school. He was some ex-military guy, gruff, take very little shit and always knew every troublemaker and jackwad in the entire town. I was actually shocked when he said 'I do not know this man.'

Steinfeld's reaction to Little Blackie being put down just went straight to the heart. Animal deaths always get me for some reason, probably because I'm a huge pussy.

Cannot get this film out of my head. Need to see it again. I suspect it's going to be one of those films that you can just pop in and immediately get sucked in, discovering something new each and every time.

That may be true, but I felt like the rear projection was intentional. That whole sequence after Mattie was poisoned was mostly eerie master shots and super tight closeups, very bleak when compared to the rest of the film. The rear projection felt like it signaled the beginning of the sad, surreal march to the end. As subtle and understated as the ending was, I wouldn't put it past the Coen's to use their most obvious trick first.

Loved. I wonder if, between the critical/financial success of Red Dead Redemption in the video game world, and how stellar True Grit is, if westerns are primed for a bit of a comeback.
Everyone is fantastic, but I totally have to agree on Pepper. Very surprising. Gotta disagree on this one. I vastly prefer multiple viewpoints, even when, like in this case, they're in agreement.

Haha same here.

I feel like a jerk, but just a moment prior I was laughing at how ludicrously exhausted the horse was. Then BAM, and I felt bad.

Re: technical nitpicking. I could take or leave the match-moved night-sky backgrounds, but the CG snakes were hard to get past. Grown-up Mattie's stump was a little iffy in one shot too.

But lord, what amazing language. I know some of it is original to the book, but haven't read it.

Rex Reed states in his review of the film that Jeff Bridges gives one of the worst performances of 2010 in True Grit. What the hell? I can absolutely understand not liking his interpretation of the character, but in a year that gave us Yogi Bear, Gulliver's Travels, The Last Airbender and more, I cannot understand how Reed can in any way say such a thing. Most infuriatingly, though, Reed pushes the misconception that this is a remake of the John Wayne original. Am I the only one who is letting Reed's reliable idiocy bother me so?

Still, I'm glad to see the film getting the acclaim that, in my opinion, it deserves fully.

Interesting to see Bridges (over the course of a week) headlining one of the worst and then best movies of the year.

The fact that Rex Reed is still being read by anyone in 2010 is the more startling development. My heavens.

Terrific movie, everyone has pretty much touched on why it's terrific but I'll throw in some praise for Dakin Matthews as the Colonel. That guy has been a staple of television guest spots for years and he did some nice work in his couple scenes here.

Love the exchange between Bridges and Damon over the hoof-print related claims of Texas Rangers.

FilmNerdJamie, Tron Legacy, is not one of the...worst films of the year. It is one of the...Best of 2010. I just watched...True Grit, but it is the original classic, starring, John Wayne. I hope you enjoyed...your, True Grit though.

I'll catch this remake on cable for free thanks. If it wins Best Picture I will laugh my ass off.

I loved every second of this film. It was pretty much perfect. Beautiful cinematography, beautiful score, fantastic dialogue, and top-quality performances. Hailee Steinfeld made a hell of a big-screen debut.


Cogburn's stating the obvious was priceless.

"You are not Labeouf."
"That did not pan out."

I especially loved the part where Mattie offers to buy one of the ponies from the storekeeper, to which he frightfully asks, "Wait... are we trading again?" It was a brief moment, but it had me laughing pretty hard.

And I must be a pussy as well, because I teared up over Little Blackie's death. The way the dead horse appeared to be looking at Mattie when she looked back was a heartbreaking and eerie shot.

I can't wait to put this alongside No Country for Old Men in my Blu-Ray collection.

This is a great movie. There is great acting, great words spoken by great mouths telling a great story against a beautifully-shot (also great) background.

'True Grit' is going to be one of the requirements on my "Do I care about your opinions on movies?" test for future coworkers.

Edit: "Oh no, are we tradin' again?" is one of the funniest punchlines I've heard all year.

This silly attitude is amusing. But you can rest your pretty little head, it won't win Best Picture.

Bridges will get a nomination though. I'd say deserves it too, and whoever this Rex Reed fellow is, he's dead wrong. The drunken and cocky cornbread show-off scene alone makes Bridges' Cogburn performance a wonderful treat.

"Ahhhh'd give 3 dollurz right now fer sum pickled buffulo tongue...."

I enjoyed Bridges' slack jawed ramblings the most. I can't wait to watch the movie with subtitles so I can understand every weird thing he said. Brolin was surprisingly likeable during his river reunion with Mattie. Damon was good, but I don't know why they bothered with the tongue thing. After that happens it kind of sounds like he's doing a bad imitation of Rooster. Were the Coens on the fence about that for a while? Damon says "Or should I say....YER EYE." and some other lines normally in the trailers. The initial scene where Rooster claws at LeBeef's mouth and removes some teeth was great, though.

My favorite part of the movie was the drunken cornbread shooting contest.

It's best to ignore his posts, he's an idiot. Luckily for us he spends most of his time talking about real highbrow, important stuff, like WWE and The Clone Wars cartoon show.

I think Bridges is sure to get a nomination, and this is probably assured of getting a Best Pic nod, but you're right, I don't think it has much of a chance of winning. Doesn't make the film any less fantastic though.

Yeah and you're a real big man calling me an idiot. Glad I wouldn't stoop down to your level and call you names. Since obviously you can't defend this film in any other fashion really shows how "highbrow" you truly are. I have no problem ignoring you forever.

Merry Christmas!

Works for me. Thanks!


Oh, and I didn't "defend" the film because you didn't take the time to list any actual faults or criticisms. Only that you would "laugh your ass off" if it wins Best Picture. That's some in depth analysis right there.

You know, you could have actually said why you were so against the movie before you ever saw it. But I guess that you decided that the best course of action was to douche it up and troll a thread.

Your stance on this movie is silly and moronic.

Back on topic: if Hailee Steinfield doesn't have an award come Oscar time, I will be surprised and disappointed in the Academy.

20ish-year-old trolls are silly and moronic. 36-year-old trolls are just tragic.

Anyhow, just watched it and greatly enjoyed it. However, coming after A SERIOUS MAN and NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, I found it mildly disappointing. It looks beautiful, and is full of spectacular performances and dialogue, and yet it doesn't have the weight to it that the Coen's best works have (Although the ending brings it close). If any other filmmaker had made this I'd be astonished but because it's made by the Coens I've come to expect absolute brilliance every time out of the gate. Not fair, I know, but it's sorta the way I feel these days.

Regardless, a very, very good film that I'm sure I'll be seeing again in the near future. Just not quite on the same level as the aforementioned Coen flicks, as well as some of 2010's best offerings ala 127 HOURS, BLACK SWAN or INCEPTION.

I have decided the song choice of "Everlasting Arms" is a joke at the expense of Mattie's missing member, probably because on a shallow level I want my Coens atheistic. Whether or not that's supposed to be a joke, there still is a sense in her walking away from the grave that the support given to her in those last moments with Cogburn has travelled away from her steadily, and nothing in her life has lived up to that.

She calls Frank James "trash." This is funny because the difference between him and Cole Younger is minimal and between them and Cogburn arguable. I wonder whether she's just judging him on not standing when she leaves or something about the James case as opposed to Younger's. Again I'm reaching but (because, like Episode 29, I felt slightly disappointed by the straightforwardness of the climax and also with their movies I need to watch them twice or discuss them before I really get into them) I want it to be some type of comment on Andrew Dominik's Assassination of Jesse James, which I always group in a trilogy with There Will Be Blood and No Country, and which it probably is not.

And yet here you are trolling with your well thought out insult. How ever will I live with myself when Mr. Episode29 has my number? Goddamn.

But hey if you want to support a snazzy remake then by all means, more power to you and more money to Hollywood.

Having not read the book, I must ask: Is the ending the same? I found it dour and pretty depressing, especially compared to the humor found throughout the rest of the movie. Granted, that may have been the point, but I thought it was pretty jarring.

Loved the film. All of the Coens' work is so damn assured, and this is no exception. I look forward to seeing it again soon.

It's definitely the point. Mattie falls into the pit immediately after killing Chaney. It's her damnation.

I don't think that scene was meant to be funny. Or at least that wasn't its sole intent. You're supposed to think Cogburn is a little sad there.

In a way, it was her finally reacting to everything else she's been through. She's seen hanged men being pecked by buzzards, a guy get his fingers chopped off and stabbed to death, another guy shot in the face, and through it all kept herself relatively together. Blackie dying was a catalyst to let it all out. And in a way, she's mourning the one true innocent being on the whole trip. There's a lot going on in this film with regards to the death of innocence, be it Mattie's, America's, or even the audience's, being asked to get past the more comical Cogburn of John Wayne and accept the more realistic Cogburn of Bridges.

Reed is so firmly entrenched "Old Hollywood" that he probably thinks the very idea of a remake is an affront to John Wayne.

I really got the impression it's because he didn't stand up like Younger did.

You're not very good at picking your battles, are you?

I mean seriously, you're picking the Coen's version of 'True Grit' to make your "I HATE ALL REMAKES" stand? That's a silly and moronic battle to fight.

If you had told me ten years ago that the Coens would remake a John Wayne movie I would've accused you of being very, very high.

The simple fact is that if it wasn't the Coens behind this (along with Bridges) then people would just dismiss it as just another needless remake. Which it is. I like it when the Coens do their own thing, it's much more engaging because it's original.

That is baseless. And not only because, as far as I can tell, you have not seen the movie but because it is the very definition of a baseless argument. If the Coens did not make it, then it would be a different film. So the reaction to it could be anything.

Plus, it is to the first movie as THE BIG LEBOWSKI is to THE BIG SLEEP.

EDIT: Sorry for the contraction-less post. Was having a little fun with the language of the film, but it reads like Bill Dauterive's cousin after an evening of cocktails.