True Grit, A-

In Theatres Dec. 22, 110 minutes, PG-13

If it is a rootin’ tootin’, gun-slingin’, horse-back-ridin’ bit of entertainment you are after this Oscar season, True Grit is your film. And if it is a study on redemption, retribution, and justice—and the high cost to be paid for any of the three—you are after, well, True Grit is your film as well. The Brothers Coen, like Clint Eastwood (whose Unforgiven was the last western that betters this one), have the commendable trait of turning out a movie nearly every year. Three years ago, that movie was No Country for Old Men, as good a film as any since. While they have released two films in the balance (Burn After Reading and A Serious Man) Grit is the sequel to Old Men in scope and spectacle. That said, spiritually it continues a conversation begun in A Serious Man, though taking a different tack.

It is worth noting that I have not seen the original movie by the same name, responsible for getting The Duke his lone Academy Award, so I am afraid you are left to your own devices in securing a comparison of the two. The plot in a nutshell is as follows: fourteen year-old Mattie Ross’s father is killed trying to help Tom Chaney, a wanted man, after which Chaney bolts for the Indian TerritorieProxy-Connection: keep-alive
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Mattie comes to finish her father’s affairs, which include, to her way of thinking, bringing his killer to justice. This she plans to do by securing the services of a U.S. Marshall to bring him in or kill him. She chooses Marshall Rooster Cogburn for his ruthlessness and the two along with Texas Ranger LaBoeuf set off to track him.

Jeff Bridges’ Cogburn at first feels like a caricature, but there is depth to this performance and to this man who wants everyone to believe he is a mumbling, braggadocios drunk, good for nothing but killing and whiskey. The caricature is Cogburn’s creation, not Bridges’, and it is in this realization that the power of his performance is seen. It is great to see Matt Damon not in Bourne mode. His LaBoeuf is equal parts bluster and earnest, and he wrings every laugh out of the role while preserving LaBoeuf’s dignity—no easy feat. Josh Brolin as Tom Chaney is not on the screen more than ten minutes, but he brings a shifty brutality and friendliness that is its own special kind of menace. From these towering actors actual fourteen year-old Hailee Steinfeld literally rides off with the movie in her portrayal of Ross. She is the beating heart of the film, the one who indeed has true grit. And she is in danger, always more than she knows, of losing more than she can hope to win in her single-minded pursuit of retribution. Predictably, the balance of the supporting cast is outstanding. I will single out Barry Pepper as Ned Pepper since I have not seen him much in a while, he is one of my favorite character actors, and he has the good luck of enjoying the same distinctive last name as his character.

The script here is a dream. Per usual, the Coens squeeze more real (and hard) laughs out of their dramas than most comedies can muster. The dialogue makes no pretense of being authentic. It is Shakespeare for cowboys, stilted in the vein of George Clooney’s lines from O Brother, except this time those words are in everyone’s mouth. That may bother some, but this writing is rivaled by only Tarantino in today’s cinema, and they know exactly what they are doing. The Coen’s regular cinematographer Roger Deakins gives us a breath-taking film, with especially gorgeous shots of night and in the snow. The filming of a long ride across the plains on a galloping horse with a sick Ross in Cogburns arms is like nothing I have ever seen before, at the same time feverishly surreal and starkly realistic.

The Coen Brothers continue to use religion to underpin their films. While this has been documented a number of times, it may be most evident in their last film, A Serious Man, which used the structures of Judaism extensively. This film begins with a quote from Proverbs, uses significant Biblical imagery (most notably snakes), alludes repeatedly to the afterlife, and uses hymns exclusively for the soundtrack, with “Leaning on the Ever-Lasting Arms” serving as the primary theme. Whether they are using faith as a device only or actually mean to say something about it, I have not yet determined, although I am tempted to go with the latter. Of course, as they say, to a man with a hammer, everything looks like a nail.

A very good film. It started as a B+ for me, but aged quite nicely over night into an A-. I am interested to see what local Coen expert Doctor has to add.