True Grit

Hello, avid movie goers. I hope this holiday season finds you well, and you got everything your heart desired for Christmas. And of course, that you managed through family get togethers relatively unscathed. But enough jokes. Oh, and not to worry- my 2010 top 10 list is coming. I still need to see Black Swan before I can make my final selections.
So, we come to True Grit. As I'm sure you all know, True Grit is based on a novel, which has previously been adapted into a movie starring John Wayne. The filmmakers claim this version is closer to the book than the other adaption. I haven't seen that or read the book, so I'll take their word for it. This film is directed by the brother team of Joel and Ethan Coen. They are among my favorite directors in Hollywood. The reason for that is they have made a career out of defying convention. What this means is that they rarely do things the way other filmmakers do, but I've found that their doing so almost always enhances the quality of their films. Like for example, my favorite Coen Brothers movie- No Country For Old Men. In that film, they use diegetic sound. That means that all the sound in the movie is something the characters would encounter. No soundtrack. No score. It's ballsy, but in this case it really enhances the drama/tension of the film.
True Grit is not my favorite Coen Brothers film. It is a near perfect film, but not my favorite. The story is fairly simple: a teenage girl sets out to avenge her murdered father, with the help of a grizzled US Marshall named Rooster Cogburn and a Texas Ranger named LaBouef. The cast all turn in fantastic performances. Bridges in particular knocks it out of the park with his part. However, Damon does a fine job and Hailee Steinfeld holds her own well against the two. They often say working with kids is a kiss of death for a movie, because kids can't act. They can mostly play themselves. That really isn't the case here, but it's interesting because that character really isn't allowed to be a kid like she should be. She's forced to grow up fast to survive. Oh, and then there's Josh Brolin. He is the sought after killer, but he isn't in the film much until the end. He also turns in a solid performance as well. The dialogue in the film is entertaining and, surprisingly, played out for humor in a lot of scenes. The film is beautifully shot. Roger Deakins, who has worked on most of the Coen Bros. projects, is an amazing cinematographer.
I have one real complaint (Or Labouef, if you will). My complaint in this film is the pacing. The beginning and the film's final half hour or so is outstanding, and some of the best work I have seen all year. However, there are some sections of the film that are very slow paced, and nearly lost my attention completely. I know a lot of Westerns are like this, so I think it was done deliberately. This may be a case where I need to see the film again, now that I have an idea of what it is, so I can better appreciate those scenes. I was also really tired when I saw this, so there's that too. Other than that, I have no other complaints about the film. It is tense and exciting, and I would highly recommend it if you're considering seeing it at all. It makes me sad that Little Fockers won out at the box office this weekend. Nothing against that film, but it seems like America always chooses what they know versus seeing something different.