Gritty and great!

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 of a genre movie, but a great movie in its own right.

The film centers around a young girl (Hailee Steinfeld), whose father was murdered. She leaves the family farm to collect his body and try to arrange for some sort of justice for her father. When it becomes clear she’s not going to get it through normal means, she decides to hire Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges, in a role far better than what he had in Tron Legacy), to track down and punish the man “for what he done”. He takes her along, reluctantly, and in the company of a Texas Ranger (Matt Damon), they set out.

This is an amazing film. It’s beautiful to look it, is tightly-paced with some great, occasionally hilarious, scenes and some truly incredible acting, especially on the part of Bridges and Steinfeld, both of whom seem to not so much play their roles as inhabit them. The supporting actors, especially Josh Brolin as the wanted murderer, also do excellent jobs.

Now I’ve never seen the original movie with John Wayne, nor have I read the novel upon which both films are based, so I cannot really offer any comparisons there. I will say that this is one of the best films of the year, will likely win several awards, and may well be popular even with people who aren’t into the Western genre. It’s a truly great bit of film making.