True Grit (2010)

It’s not hard to fathom why new Westerns are scarce. Modern society is far too PC for traditional frontier mythology to gain wide appeal, and the slew of comic and revisionist Westerns since the ‘60s played out the alternate approach. Recent efforts highlight the genre’s dilution: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford is an odd bird, more a moody period drama than a Western, which was barely released. Weird genre hybrids like Wild, Wild West, Jonah Hex and the upcoming Cowboys and Aliens alienate Western fans and ordinary viewers alike. Even the action-packed, star-studded 3:10 to Yuma remake did only modest business. In any case, few of these films are really Westerns; even more traditional oaters like Appaloosa know the words but not the music.

For this reason, the Coen Brothers's True Grit is a breath of fresh air, a wonderful oater that actually feels like a Western. Purists and genre fans moaning about remaking the venerable John Wayne vehicle can rest easy; the new version greatly surpasses the original, and may well be the best Western in the past thirty years or so.

Headstrong 14 year old Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) arrives at Ft. Smith, Arkansas, looking for Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin), a surly drifter who murdered her father. Mattie enlists the reluctant help of Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges), a one-eyed, drunken lout of a lawman, to track Chaney into Indian Territory and bring him to justice. Joining them is LaBeouf (Matt Damon), a cocky Texas Ranger trailing Chaney for a separate crime. Cogburn and LaBeouf bicker with each other and Mattie, who demands to be taken along, and find that Chaney has hooked up with Ned Pepper (Barry Pepper), an outlaw with a grudge against Rooster.

The original True Grit is no masterpiece. John Wayne's fun, Oscar-winning performance aside, it's a fairly routine oater marred by two utterly atrocious performances by Kim Darby and Glenn Campbell. Many complain about remakes out of principle, which is silly: even ostensibly "original" films crib heavily from earlier movies, making such a complaint irrelevant. (How much does Unforgiven borrow from The Gunfighter, for instance?) Most remakes are risible because they lazily appropriate the original's title for name recognition: good ones find some new angle or approach to justify revisiting a previously-told tale. Such is the case with True Grit.

The Coens build on the original film (and the Charles Portis novel), turning it from a passable star vehicle into something grand. Long dialogue passages are appropriated verbatim from the Wayne version, but in the Coens's hands they have a lot more bite and raw humor, resulting in a surprisingly funny film. The three protagonists are more vividly rendered, with added scenes - especially the shooting contest - providing texture and depth without distracting from the narrative. Refusing to cop to political correctness, the Coens draw uncomfortable laughs with Rooster's racist treatment of Indians and vulgarity. Most of the flaws, like the colorless villains, are inherent in the source material. I'm hardly the Coens's biggest fan, but I must admit their style and quirks perfectly suit this material, capturing the spirit of a classic Western better than any director since Clint Eastwood hung up his spurs.

Their direction is equally assured: the movie is perfectly paced, with long dialogue scenes meshing effortlessly with shootouts and travel montages, and beautiful cinematography by Roger Deakins gives the film an epic scope. The movie is authentic and gripping without the stuffy feel and pretentious posturing of, say, Jesse James. The final showdown with Pepper ("Fill your hands, you son of a bitch!") is especially inspired, staged in truly mythic style, and Chaney's comeuppance is far more satisfying despite his marginal role in the story. Carter Burwell's score is rather bland, a minor blip all things considered.

Jeff Bridges is brilliant. Wisely, Bridges plays Rooster as far from the Duke's interpretation as possible, emphasizing his seamier side: the slovenly, racist, hard-drinking, trigger-happy survivor of Quantrill's Raiders, who nonetheless comes through in the clutch. Bridges gives the role his all, with the right mixture of grim humor and irreverence, and he somehow manages to upstage even John Wayne. This Dude abides.

Opposite Bridges, newcomer Hailee Steinfeld is pitch-perfect. She proves that the problem with the original was not Mattie Ross, but Kim Darby; Steinfeld's Mattie is believably tough and headstrong, able to hold her own with Rooster, yet endearing and sympathetic. Matt Damon is merely okay, which is still miles better than Glenn Campbell's risible performance in the original. Baddies Josh Brolin (W.) and Barry Pepper (Saving Private Ryan) have as much to do as Jeff Corey and Robert Duvall in the original, which is to say, not much. Dakin Matthews (Rough Riders) provides an uncanny Strother Martin impression.

So, pardner, what are you waiting for? Go and see True Grit, pronto. For the first time in a long while, a modern Western has the look and feel of a classic Western, and for that alone the Coens are to be commended.