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"True Grit"
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A Quick Tip by Lopez15
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Apr 5, 2011
- by Lopez15
- posted in Movie Hype
"True Grit" is what I like to call a miracle remake or re-imagining. It is one of those rare remaining that not only expand on the original but also actually surpasses it thanks to an impressive script by the Coen Brothers. Thanks in part to outstanding performances from its all star cast most notably newcomer and Oscar Nominee Hailee Stienfeld, Matt Damon and a drunken nasty ass cuss performance from the great Jeff “The Dude" Bridges. This is an immensely superior film than the "classic" 1968 Henry Hathaway original this reworking of the classic novel by Charles Portis is in every way a better film and one for the can't miss list.
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Moviesfan
April 06, 2011
I would not say the Coen Brothers' version is much better, but I do agree that it was better in the end. Though as far as acting goes, John Wayne was one of the only things I liked about the original. Kim Darby and Glenn Campbell literally gave painful performances, and that really got to me. Steinfeld was a major upgrade, and for the mst part (aside from the opening and ending) the acting was the only differences of the two films. But, I would take this version over the original any day.
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Chris_Pandolfi
April 05, 2011
I completely agree. The original is highly overrated, and in my opinion, John Wayne did not deserve an Oscar for that performance.
Lopez15
April 05, 2011
I am not bashing an original but the reworking by the Coen Brothers was far superior to the Henry Hathaway 1968 version. His version just seemed to lack focus or emotional depth and you didn't feel any real connection between Kim Darby and John Wayne as Mady and Cogburn they were just reading the lines and going through the motions. I think Bridges and Stienfeld were much better choices for the role of Mady and Rooster and Damon a major upgrade from Glenn Campbell and I also agree Wayne's performance did not really merit and Oscar win.
woopak_the_thrill
April 05, 2011
I think Wayne got the award since he hasn't gotten any for his other flicks. This is the way to make a remake as with the "I Spit on Your Grave" remake...
Lopez15
April 05, 2011
I agree he did at least deserve to get the award for something but I felt that Bridges was much better for the role than he was. And I also agree that this is how remake should be made.
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I have no idea how many times I have stated the rules for filming a movie that remakes an iconic original. Well, if you’re one of those folks who’ve never read any of my reviews before, they are quite simple: 1) It must broaden the scope that is covered by the original film while adapting it for a much more modern audience. 2) It must follow the essence and the spirit of the said material (in this case the book). 3) It should pay homage to the source material and/or the original film. … more
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Our Christmas movie this year was True Grit, which we saw in the late show Christmas night just before the first Christmas snow in Raleigh in 60 years shut down the town. We followed that up with a viewing (my first!) of the 1969 original starring John Wayne and Glenn Campbell. I recently read and reviewed Charles Portis's novel, which I rated +5 for Mattie Ross's spare language of guarded emotion that tells us more about her than pages of florid description … more
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With that, the movie begins. Let me say this about movies. It is neither my lifeblood nor life passion. It is simply one form of entertainments for me. And since I moved to China a few years ago, I barely need to pay much for it. Believe me, very little, hehe... So, I got my fair share of movies. Some good, some darn lousy. I don’t normally waste time writing the lousy ones. To me, they are not even worth a minute of my life writing about … more
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***1/2 out of **** "True Grit" is the latest offering from the legendary geniuses that are the Coen Brothers, and upon finishing the film, I can't help but admit that I was indeed quite "wowed". I went into this film expecting no particularly big surprises; and left feeling provoked and shocked by just how different this film was; at least from what I expected it to be. But the second adaptation of "True Grit" is still a damn good one, and in a number of ways, I enjoy it … more
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The Coen Brothers are not usually known for doing purely genre films. There's usually a semblance of several genres mixed together when they do a film. To see them do a purely western is something of a curiosity. After all, there are reasons why a western, of all genres, might turn heads. In the first place, it has been years since a fantastic western actually showed up in theaters (perhaps the last truly good one was the 2007 remake of 3:10 to Yuma), but more than that... … more
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If you had asked me a month, maybe even a couple of weeks ago what my favorite film of the year was going to be, without hesitation I would have said Christopher Nolan’s Inception. I knew that Tron Legacy and True Grit were coming up, and I had a feeling that the latter had a good chance of making my top ten or even my top five, but I had no idea it had this great of a chance. In fact, it might just be giving Inception a good run for its money. This is one of my favorites of … more
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The Western genre is a perennial of American cinema. Sometimes very popular, sometimes just sort of “there”, but never going away. In recent years we’ve seen Westerns like Unforgiven and 3:10 to Yuma, both of which are great examples of what the genre can do when it’s being worked by someone who really knows what they’re doing. Now to this list we can add True Grit, directed by the Coen Brothers. As with their other films, it’s not just a fine example … more
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The Coen Brothers know their way around a film. That much has been established over the years. And after a few films that were not seen by too many, they return to the West, but this time around with the clock set back a few years. True Grit is based of the 1968 novel of the same name. And while it shares its source material with the 1969 film that won John Wayne his only Oscar, it would be unfair to call this a remake. Lost is the tone of the previous film, it loses … more
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There’s a scene in both versions of “True Grit” in which Deputy Marshall Reuben J. “Rooster” Cogburn tells fourteen-year-old Mattie Ross about his ex-wife and his son, who he hasn’t seen in years and expects to never see again. As portrayed by John Wayne in the original 1969 version, we see an actor delivering his lines. As portrayed by Jeff Bridges in the 2010 remake, we listen to his garbled, drunken inflections of speech and realize that he’s the full … more
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Or should that be "The DUKE" now? He sleeps in the back of a Chinese Grocery, he gets so drunk he can't remember details during a trial and you'd be surprised that he can even ride his horse facing the right direction and risk looking like Dudley Do-Right but under that unshaven face with only one eye, those whiskey fueled synapses still fire and if you're on the wrong end of his Winchester, your a dead man. The Coen's remake … more
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About the reviewer
C.R. Lopez (Lopez15)
Ranked #12
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Nov 6, 2009
Last Login: Jul 7, 2012 09:53 PM UTC
Last Login: Jul 7, 2012 09:53 PM UTC
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About this movie
True Grit is an upcoming 2010 Western film, written and directed by the Coen brothers and starring Jeff Bridges, Josh Brolin and Matt Damon. The film is an adaptation of the 1968 novel by Charles Portis which was previously adapted for film in 1969. Filming began on March 2010 with an anticipated release date of December 25, 2010.
Bridges will play U.S. Marshal Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn. The character was portrayed by John Wayne in the 1969 film, a performance which earned him the Academy Award for Best Actor.
Mattie Ross, a 14-year-old girl, undertakes a quest to avenge her father's death at the hands of a drifter named Tom Chaney. Ross persuades an alcoholic marshal named Rooster Cogburn to join her in tracking down Chaney.
Ethan Coen said that the film will be a more faithful adaptation of the novel than the 1969 version.
“ It's partly a question of point-of-view. The book is entirely in the voice of the 14-year-old girl. That sort of tips the feeling of it over a certain way. I think [the book is] much funnier than the movie was so I think, unfortunately, they lost a lot of humour in both the situations and in her voice. It also ends differently than the movie did. You see the main character — the little girl — 25 years later when she's an adult. Another way in which it's a little bit different from the movie — and maybe this ...
Cast:
Matt Damon,
Elizabeth Marvel,
Jeff Bridges,
Barry Pepper,
Josh Brolin,
Paul Rae,
Dakin Matthews,
Hailee Steinfeld,
Jarlath Conroy,
Domhnall Gleeson
Director:
Ethan Coen,
Joel Coen
Genre:
Adventure,
Drama,
Western
Release Date:
22 December 2010 (USA)
MPAA Rating:
PG-13
Runtime:
110 min
Studio:
Paramount Pictures
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