True Grit (2010)

I love this movie. And I am a mutual fan of westerns, I don’t love them and I don’t hate them. If a film is done good, I will like it, no matter what the genre is. And vice versa. And this film is done good. Extremely good. This is probably the hardest review I have ever had to write so far. Because my opinions of the film really does not translate well to words. To say the least, there is not a weak link in the film. Jeff Bridges does great as he does in every single movie, and while I really didn’t think his performance was Best Actor nomination worthy, he did do a very good job. Matt Damon and Josh Brolin really are not in the film, Brolin is absent for almost the entire thing. And Damon doesn’t really do anything special for the film. He was just a character. But the shining light of the cast is Hailee Steinfeld as Maddie Ross. I’m betting my money on the fact that you’ve never heard of Hailee Steinfeld, as this is her first acting credit (solely according to flixter). And after seeing this movie, I hope she gets more work. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, and while I have not seen The Fighter (the movie for which Melissa Leo won the award), I am pretty sure that Hailee should have won. She was amazing. There are a lot of really bad kid actors out there, and Hailee is on the same level as Chlöe Grace Moretz, Kodi Smit-McPhee, in addition to Elle Fanning, Joel Courtney and the rest of the kids from Super 8. These are the best child actors out there. And as a child actor (definitely not as good as any of the ones I just listed), I really appreciate good child acting when I see it. She brings a sense of sophistication to the film. And the film is extremely sophisticated. As most of you know, it is a remake of the 1969 film True Grit, which John Wayne won his only Oscar for Best Actor. I haven’t seen the original yet, but I will now. The plot is that a young girl’s (Steinfeld) father has been murdered by a man (Brolin) and she wants revenge. She finds two men (Bridges and Damon) to help her take him down. The film is directed and written by the brilliant Coen Brothers, and almost everything they do is amazing. This film is no exception. It is possibly one of the fastest two hours in my movie going life. When I finally make my Best & Worst of 2010 list, True Grit is definitely going to be in the ‘Best’ line.
9.5/10