True Grit is back

[sgw74]

Come on Nervisfr - 'excellent Tom Hanks', the only actor ever to be out acted by a basketball! 

Actually I believe it was a volleyball...

[Anatoli]

Saw it yesterday and can't say I was too impressed - I just didn't get the western feel from watching it.
I have not seen the original, I am a Coen fan (perhaps in decline as their ratio of good vs bad movies start to even out).

I found this to be a "OK" movie, would rate it as a 6, 7top even for a Coen movie.

As a Coen movie it dangles somewhere around their middle work like Arizona Junior, Hudsucker Proxy, O brother where are thou and Burn after reading. It is not close to the excellent movies like Big Lebowski, Millers Crossing, The man who wasn't there, No country for old men and Fargo.

At least it was better than A serious man which I didn't "get" because of my lack of all the exclusively Jewish jokes (the beginning was really good though and I wish that the movie would be about the guy coming back from the dead instead).

I also think it is lazy to make remakes upon remakes.


As a western it simply didn't work for me, Jeff Bridges just plays a generic southern drunk which we have seen portrayed a hundred times already, the little girl is obnoxious, the main villain which we don't get to see until the end of the movie is simply uninteresting and we don't know anything about him. Then suddenly Barry Pepper becomes the villain in the last 10 minutes of the movie? What? With a weird and unsuspenseful shootout that is forgettable.
The whole 3rd act is in fact rushed and sloppy, as the movie is slowly building up towards something the payoff is very meager.

The settings and directing were not especially good either, just felt very poor on western settings, people, feel and atmosphere. Matt Damon was surprisingly good though and I think he came off as the only interesting character in the entire movie.

The more I think about it the more I feel that the movie didn't work because there was no sense of danger to any of the characters really, no suspense in any of the "action" scenes, the girl got her way throughout the movie outmaneuvering everyone with her wit and even when she got into "danger" the situation quickly leveled out.


Not a western I will buy once it's released on DVD.  


Of the 3 "Oscar contender" movies I've seen so far (Black Swan, Social Network, True Grit) this was the most disappointing and surprisingly enough the Social Network which I thought would suck is a far superior movie in terms of characters, writing, pace and even directing. The Coens could do so much better if only they weren't lazy making remakes.

[Johnno]

The original True Grit is on TV right now and from the scenes Ive seen so far. It looks like theyve changed almost nothing.
Someone at work said that the original True Grit is just another remake of the River Queen. I dont know if thats true or not.
Oh and my apostrophe button isnt working see --- È

[Driscoles]

Pls pls pls...just don t watch it if you don t like remakes, don t like westerns or think the Coen Bros are on a downfall but stop spoiling the movie and I dont wanna know that they didn t change anything or who became the surprise villain in the final 10 minutes...because I haven t seen it yet !   
Thank you !

[Bugsda]

I don't care who's in it, only that Glen Campbell's not 

[Malamute]

Saw it Friday and I loved it. ( and I am a big John Wayne fan). Visually stunning, great acting, very faithful to the book, more so than Wayne's version. We don' t see enough westerns made anymore, so thank you to the Coen bros.

[Leetje]

I also loved it my only criticism is maybe the pace was a bit slow at times. Matt Damon as a cowboy was also a very pleasant suprise.

I also must echo the demand for more cowboy films andCowboys and Aliens does not count

[Plynkes]

Well I suppose Matt Damon as a cowboy is a lot easier to buy than Matt Damon as Francois flippin' Pienaar...

[The Somnambulist]

I'm afraid I'll have to disagree with the naysayers on this topic, saw this on Friday and absolutely loved it! It's based on the book it's not a direct remake, the narrative is slightly different from the "original"(more in keeping with book), the music is fantastic based on traditional hymns. The cinematography is brilliant, certainly feels like a western.

[Driscoles]

Thank you Somnambulist !
I think sometimes the people get obsessed with The Dukes only Oscar rewarded movie.

[Donpimpom]

i saw it yesterday and i really liked it.
When I was a kid I was a big fan of western and I think I have seen almost all wayne's movies, and I din't get the feeling to be watching a standard remake from True grit (Valor de Ley in spanish).
But in the other side I don't think it's a better film than "Unforgiven" as i read in some media.
I agree damon (an actor i usually dislike) works really fine on his role.
If the film looks like a western or not is a different discussion, to me it looks like, but i know people saying films like Unforgiven, Pale Rider, Deadman or series like Deadwood aren't really westerns.
I don't know if deserves 10 oscar, I really don't pay attention to Oscars to evaluate a film's quality.

[Ignatieff]

Saw it yesterday and really enjoyed it.  Would be very surprised if it was a contender for the main Oscar prizes though (Social Network and The Kings Speech are better movies). Five fine performances: Cogburn, the girl, Matt Damon (excellent), the main baddy in the sheepskin chaps (would have liked a lot more of him, he really looked and acted the part) and the cotton trader at the start.  Some of Anatoli's criticism resonate with me.  The pay off was too short, and therefore missed an opportunity to buld tension, as hence the baddies didnt really get going (especially Josh Brolin).  4 out of 5 for me, definitely worth seeing.

[Galloping Major]

Don't care about the remake debate.  On their day the Cohen brothers are the best directors on the planet, period.  Jeff Bridges is a superb actor, and this is a great story.  So it bodes well.  Definetly going to see it.

Ignatief is right on the button there.

My wife arranged (without me knowing) for us to go and see it as one of my Valentine's treats yesterday. I thought it was superb. As one of you guys said, it's forty years since the last version.

Bridges is one of those actors who's matured into himself, and is now able to handle this sort of role with ease. I don't go crazy for every Coen brothers film, but their best are brilliant, and I wasn't disappointed. Great story, great film, great western. If you haven't seen it - do.


www.gallopingmajorwargames.com

[ErikB]

Just saw it.  Very, very good movie but I had a hard time understanding the Marshall and the Ranger.  They slurred way too much.  Should have had subtitles.

Also, the Victorian-American speech was a bit over the top.

I wish they had spent  some more time on Lucky Ned because he was a surprisingly interesting character.

Other than that, magnificent movie.

[Ignatieff]

I wish they had spent  some more time on Lucky Ned because he was a surprisingly interesting character.

Agree