Reviewing the filmography of the Coen brothers, I realized that we’ve actually watched quite a few of them over the years. I’ve also never disliked any of them, except for O Brother, Where Art Thou? whose humor I didn’t really get. One of the most impressive things about their body of work is that they cover such a remarkable range of genres and styles. No Country for Old Men for example is an implacably grim meditation on the nature of true evil while Raising Arizona is just plain wackiness. Apart from good craftsmanship, the one thing that they have in common is perhaps their eccentricity.
That’s why it’s pretty surprising that True Grit turned out to be an old-fashioned Western, played pretty much straight. It’s told from the perspective of a girl, Mattie Ross, who at the age of 14 not only decides to hire the aging and one-eyed U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn to hunt down her father’s murderer but is determined on travelling with him herself. The murderer is also the target of Texas Ranger LaBoeuf for another crime and so they reluctantly join forces.
The Coen brothers knew that the choice of the young actress to play Mattie would make or break this movie and newcomer Hailee Steinfeld certainly doesn’t disappoint. She’s as spunky a character as they come and as the focal point of the interactions between the characters makes even tired old archetypes like the mean marshal seem fresh again. Despite her age, her no-nonsense speaking style is more grown-up than the real adults which throws everyone off and thereby sets the stage for enormously entertaining scenes, as when LaBoeuf decides to spank her to put her in her place. It’s extra fun since Matt Damon is the one doing the spanking. Jeff Bridges does a great job as the old marshal as well but we couldn’t quite recognize him.
As with any Western, the landscape itself plays a large role and thanks to the Coens’ usual competence, it’s as beautiful and epic as you would expect. I’ve mentioned that their usual eccentricity is much restrained here but not missing altogether. You can hear it in the incredibly articulate speech that the characters all employ, showing off a love of language and a mastery of its cadence that is the equal of anything by Quentin Tarantino. You can imagine how delighted they must have been with the word “hooraw” to use it four times in the dialogue when Damon’s character complains about how the marshal allows the girl to walk all over him. It’s a made-up word that appears in the novel the film is based on and nowhere else.
Most Hollywood remakes of older films have a rather poor reputation so it’s a real testament to the Coens’ ability and vision that critics roundly agree that this film is superior to the 1969 version that starred John Wayne and closer in spirit to Charles Portis’ novel. It’s very much a genre movie that doesn’t break any new ground so it would be wise not to expect too much out of it, but it serves as a good reminder that a straight-up Western can still have a place in modern cinema provided that it’s well-made.