True Grit: Post Release Discussion - Page 2

Besides, it's not really a remake, since it's completely unlike the John Wayne film in tone. It's an adaptation of the novel.

And yeah, really good filmmakers taking on a "remake" merits a little more attention than if some assembly-line hack was doing it.

Why the hell this still needs to be repeated baffles me. I can understand old grandma Fett sticking to her John-Wayne-style-guns, but anyone who frequents a movie site should already have it planted in their brains:

The Coen Brothers are adapting a novel by the name of True Grit.

The John Wayne movie, while highly enjoyable in its own right, didn't even do the novel justice. There is no remake involved in this situation.

When the Coen Brothers adapt a novel, they stay true to the text - See: a little diddy called NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN.

Again. Why does all this need to be repeated here?

ETA: Typo.

What surpised me most, and pleased me most was just how damn funny this movie is. The banter from all the leads was incredible. Any time Mattie left one of the adults with their mouths open and speechless, after kicking the shit out of them with her words just floored me. I especially couldn't stop laughing at the horse trading haggling.

I didn't even recognize Pepper.

You're being silly.

I bet you're going to tell me next that John Carpenter shouldn't have made another adaptation of 'The Thing' and Soderbergh would've been better off not remaking 'Ocean's Eleven'.

Yeah. Her line was 'Keep your seat, trash.' Gentlemen stand up when a lady is standing. Assholes stay seated.

That scene may be my favorite. It's the tiny smile Mattie allows herself, mid-negotiation, once she realizes she'll be getting the money she wants.

Near-perfect movie, mildly spoiled by a maudlin faux-gospel soundtrack and a country banshee wailing over the end credits. A minor quibble, but I'm hard-to-please esp. with modern attempts at olde-tyme music (see Get Low for another example of how to bug-the-shit-out-of-me with every roots music cliché available). A lot of this here sounded like Ken Burns muzak.

Post-snakebite stuff was deliberately surreal and kinda took me out of it for a bit, but I was brought back when old Mattie said she'd never married. Between a heroic but drunken father-figure (Bridges), a solid but vain potential pedophile (Damon), and an amoral maniac (Brolin), the poor adolescent girl never had a chance to develop a "normal" relationship with men. Already a tough cookie, she is literally changed by this series of events.

Steinfeld for the win. Also, the bear-dentist: Grizzly Man, D.D.S.

Yikes. I've seen her live and alternated between love and hate the entire time. An acquired taste…

The score reminded of "Waltzing Matilda". Am I crazy? Been a long time since I've heard that song.

Where were you when they remade The Ladykillers? Now that's something to get upset about. Not this.

Also, you realize that the original won an Oscar, right? Not for best picture, but still.

Movie was golden. Loved every minute.

Sorry to disappoint you. It's in the book.

I would say, in fact, roughly 85% of what everyone loves about the movie (except the cinematography/score, obviously) comes straight from the book.

Great book, great movie. And when I read the book I knew exactly what the Coens had seen in it, whereas before I was kind of like "Why are they doing this?", which, to be fair, is what I've said about every Coen film until it actually comes out. (If anyone cares.)

They just don't make bad movies.

Maybe, just maybe the film of the year.

The central tune, "Leaning On The Everlasting Arms", which I will forever associate with Night of the Hunter but may be the Coen's little joke here, contains some similarities.

Caught this tonight, as soon as Steinfeld uttered the line , "the soul has left the body" or whatever it was exactly in response to repeated offers to kiss her father I knew the hype behind her performance was justified.

Such a powerful girl, I just hope she doesn't flounder in a sophomore effort.

I can't say this will be film of the year, but Hailee Steinfeld will definitely be nominated; not for lead actress, probably supporting.

See, I hope that's crazy talk, because unlike the first film this is Mattie's movie 100%. She deserves lead actress status.

I think it would be smart to suss out the strength of each category, but I agree she was lead actress in this.

See, I liked how they subtly traced the mutual attraction between Matty and LeBouf without making it creepy. Back in those days fourteen year old girls would marry grown men, if not all the time, at least regularly enough. Certainly creepy by our standards, and rightfully so, but in making a movie about the times I like the the Coens didn't change the mores to make it more acceptable, and I think looking at Damon's character as a potential pedophile is somewhat reductive.

Also, one of my favorite things was how people kept referring to Mattie's character as ugly, just to try and faze her. So mean/funny.

Anyway, fantastic film, as to be expected.

But she's not well known enough for Lead Actress. Kind of like Christophe Waltz in IB. It's his movie but he was put in Supporting to guarentee a Nom/Win.

Can only echo what was said in here. I want to see the movie again just to see Mattie haggle the price of the horses/saddle again. Just great scene. Reminiscent of Waltz in the French Farmhouse in IB.

Basically, back in the day, Rooster ran with a bunch of rough folks that included Frank James. During the stakeout at the dugout, he tells Mattie that he got in trouble for doing something in Arizona, I believe. It turns out Frank James was responsible, not Rooster, and Mattie remembers that throughout the rest of her life, and took the opportunity to tell James off. It was more clearly defined in the book than in the film.


God, I loved this movie. It was simply astonishing. I sort of have to percolate on it for a bit, and see if I can add anything new to the praise of this film.

I liked the blatantly staged nature of the post-snakebite ride. Appropriately hallucinatory and intense.

I didn't know Barry Pepper was going to be in this until I saw that Mondo poster a couple of days ago. That guy is awesome; he should be in more movies.

Thanks for the explanation, I'll admit that bit had me confused. Man that was a hell of a movie.

I should have fully qualified my statement. In my opinion, she deserves lead, but with the bigger names and this being her first film, I doubt she can pull a Tatum O'Neal. Let's hope I am wrong.

I really, really enjoyed this. However, I'm going to have to wait a while and see it again before I truly assess it.

It's amazing and everything said about the performances is dead on. But I just can't get behind all the talk of "Best film of the year" and ESPECIALLY "best Coens film ever." As always, I find that talk premature but watching it I felt there's no way this thing ranks up there with No Country, Fargo, O'Brother, etc.

But... it's not a pissing contest and that's why I need to see it again to better take it as its own film and not something to be eventually placed and ranked in the pantheon of Coen Bros. films.

Holy shit, was it funny though. I truly wasn't braced for all the classic Coen comedy embedded in this thing. Brolin's continued muttering of "nothing's going right for me" or whatever it was slayed me. Very "damn, we're in a tight spot" v2.0.

It's not their best picture, but it's in the top two of the year for sure.

I'm not sure about that. Between The King's Speech, The Social Network and Black Swan this has some very stiff competition.

*EDIT* Damn, Inception.... I knew I was forgetting something.

Actually, for me, the top 5 right now is:

TRUE GRIT
INCEPTION
BLACK SWAN
THE SOCIAL NETWORK
TOY STORY 3

Really struggling with putting this over INCEPTION. Nolan's film had a solid effect over me that carried through the whole year.

It was definitely a good make up job, but man oh man, Barry Pepper looked and felt and sounded so much like Duvall from the original I thought it was Duvall for his briefest of brief (yet stunningly convincing) cameos. Also, kudos to the speech coach for all the actors, to this Yankee boy, it sounded quite convincing and they never once broke from their inflections and accents.

God, this movie. So friggin good.

And it ties back to the very beginning of the movie, when Mattie explains that everything has a cost other than the grace of God. At the time she's talking about Chaney getting away or not getting away, but ultimately the same rule must apply to her and her quest for revenge.

Even though I've not seen the 1969 film and didn't know Duvall had played the character, the resemblance was evident to me as well.

Yeah, what you said. I was being glib.

And her being called ugly is hilarious



He's in Casino Jack with Kevin Spacey. Movie's bad but Pepper's good in it, and he's in it a lot.

I loved that they set up the bearskin medicine man as an obvious deus ex machina for the snakebite finale, and then don't use him. (Was that in the book?)

I felt like this was the Coens kicking back and making a more conventional adventure flick after their last few movies all experimented with frustrating narrative expectations in that patented Coen-y way. I honestly don't think that makes this a lesser movie, or if it does, it fills a need for them and is still better than like 95% of the movies this year.

Man, Indian abuse in this movie.

I didn't read into that at all, in fact I'm still uncertain what "Medicine Man" represents narrative wise, or symbolically. I don't feel like he was presented as anything more than an oddjob in the woods, certainly not as a Dues Ex Machina.

The scene where they come upon the Indian trading post and Cogburn kicks the shit out of those kids literally killed me. We were the only ones laughing though, must have had a bad crowd.

The final kick as he exits the shop is just perfect.

Yeah, but those kids were poking that horse with sharpened sticks. That's why Rooster's so pissed at them.

Oh, they definitely deserved it, but that certainly doesn't kill the hilarity of the scene.

On that note, I'm surprised how far they took that spanking with Maddie. 99% of films will use it as a threat, but it's pretty rare to see it actually happen onscreen nowadays. It was unnerving, for lack of a better word.

Well of course it wasn't ACTUALLY a deus ex machina, I was just saying that as soon as Maddie got bit, I thought "Ah! The bear doctor guy is gonna save her!" Then they subverted that by not using him, as the Coens are wont to do.

Indians being treated like shit is clearly a running gag in this movie. Not exactly hard to see the metaphor there.

It's always interesting seeing how your average filmgoer responds to the Coen brand of humor, thusfar, it's been fairly consistent: uncertainty.

The Indian abuse running was really funny to me, and some people chuckled, but there was this sense that they didn't know if they were allowed to or if that was the intention. The answer to both is obvious, but it was great to survey.

Loved the film. Steinfeld is amazing, but with the company she keeps in this film, she really couldn't have gotten away with being anything less. I'm not going to speculate on awards, but hers is a name that should demand attention in the years to come.

Bridges is great. I love that he's got these two disparate films out at the same time, because though I have no real interest in the other, it's all a showcase for one of the great American actors.

Others have commented on the (intimated to be) mutual attraction between Ross and LeBeef, and I found it well played too, but honestly, in the context of the time in which this story takes place, a romantic relationship wouldn't have been all that odd (again, for the time). Of course, I understand the reasons why that didn't happen, and I don't disagree with it.

That brings me to Matt Damon. Yeah, he's stumbled at the box office a bit, but this guy is an actor's actor. Not afraid at all to look buffonish or over his head, really on point, never phoning it in and constantly extending his range. He was always a better actor than Affleck (who I like a lot), but when he starts directing films (and you know it's coming), Ben needs to start watching his back. =-)

Could say more, but I am hungry and sleepy and must cuddle with my cat.

Yeah, Damon's being overshadowed by his two co-stars, both of whom give showier performances, but he's really really good in this. You really do spend the whole movie not being sure whether LeBeouf is a hero or a clown. What's funny is that Rooster has all the obvious clownish, incompetent moments, and yet it's LeBeouf who you're not certain of.

Just looking at LeBeouf's face lining up that last shot, you get a great sense that he's not sure himself. I agree, Bridges steals the show, but Damon carries his end with aplomb.

I really enjoyed how little star power Damon carried. He didn't seem like "Matt Damon playing a cowboy," he felt like a cowboy. He was his character, and he was arguably the biggest name in the movie to most people.

Also, although it's been echoed before, the campfire argument between Cogburn and Leboeuf is priceless. Leboeuf is such an awkward character.

The more I turn the film over in my head, Damon's LeBoeuf becomes the performance to savor here. He really does something special here. Of course, so does the ENTIRE fucking cast.

I keep telling people about the film, beginning with "it's great but I kind of think some of the hype is a bit overblown, but... Bridges and Damon are so fucking good. And Steinfeld. Well, and Brolin. And Pepper and... jesus! Come to think of it every single cast member does something amazing."

Another reason Laboeuf's character is hilariously awkward is when you realize the "tough guy" persona he's putting on is done to impress Maddie more than it is Cogburn.

I think it's pretty much to impress anybody, not just Mattie. It's a great character, and Damon really does a great job with it. He's a showboat who has absolutely no buyers in Mattie and Rooster. But, in the end, with all of the doubt, he comes through...even though he did turn his back on the knocked assunder but not down for the count Chaney.

One of my favorite bits of dialogue from the flick is when Laboeuf tries to convince Mattie that the reasons Chaney has elluded his grasp for so long is that he's smarter than he looks - which Laboeuf doesn't even believe as he says it.

And which is completely disproved once we actually meet Chaney.

Which just goes back to how wonderfully Chaney was built up.

I don't know. Chaney did seem buffonish or slow all the way up until the point where he went to strangle Mattie. I thought I saw a gear switch in him at that moment, but it was quick, since Laboeuf clocked almost immediatley.

I absolutely loved how they handled Chaney's first appearence. I expected a hardened killer, but I got exactly what he was: A drunkard on the run.

He almost seemed like he was going to help Maddie, perhaps offer her some food or something, until she shoots him.

Ned Pepper was wonderful as well, as somebody else mentioned, I loved how the gang wasn't a bunch of savage idiots, but had a real intelligent guy at the helm.

Even Chaney didn't seem so bad till he got shot, more of a sad character than anything, what with this drinking habits.

Yeah, I actually thought Chaney might have been slightly retarded or something when Maddie comes across him in the river. I was ready to feel bad for the guy.

Loved this movie. Echoing all the praise for Steinfeld, Bridges, Damon, Deakins, etc. I guess the ending was part of the book, but it still felt quite jarring to me as well. It was almost as if the Coens realized they were having a bit too much fun with these characters and they had accidentally created a movie a tad too optimistic for their liking.

The thing about Chaney is that he really isn't terribly smart, but he plays dumber than he actually is so people will underestimate him. He's the born loser--blaming others for his misfortune and then lashing out when they least expect it because, in his mind, they deserve it.

"Everything's against me."

I know a guy like this, I think we all do. I'm starting to think he was portrayed that way on purpose...