Plot: Fourteen-year-old Mattee Ross (Hailee Steinfield) hires Federal Marshel Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) to hunt down murderer Tom Cheney (Josh Brolin.) They are joined by Texas Ranger Laboeuf (Matt Damon) as they venture into Indian territory to find Cheney and the criminal band he is hiding with.
Review: Mattee Ross carries True Grit. It is her larger-than-life, poise, worldliness, and spunk that makes this movie fun. The traditional Western characters like Cogburn and Laboeuf are colorful, but not distinctive or memorable. Hailee Steinfield deserves recognition It is like Ellen Page's role in Juno -- the dialog is the star of the movie.
The scene where Matee negotiates with the horse dealer should become a classic.
Jeff Bridges plays Rooster Cogburn as a likeable tough-guy with a warm heart. Jeff Bridges is always a bit disgusting, but the disgusting parts are given only in small doses. Matt Damon was probably too prominent an actor to play Laboeuf because it always seemed like Matt Damon reading lines, and never like an actual character.
True Grit was fun-to-watch, and surprisingly funny -- usually because of the dialog. There was some suspenseful action, but actually the characters were shallow - as in a comedy or action movie.
True Grit is not a Western but rather a Black Comedy. The film was well made and well acted. The movie is not really about anything -- it does not make any points about life or people or whatever.
Cast: Hailee Steinfield, Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon
Directed by: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Rating: 3.0 stars, perhaps edging higher to 3.5
More: I want to read the book.
