True Grit

True Grit 2011 (15) 110 minutes

Spielberg keeps the Coens in check

Cinematic visionaries or pseudo-intellectual fraudsters? Truly free spirits or enslaved to the studios? Wherever they roam, whatever they produce, the Coen brothers, Joel and Ethan, court controversy like no others before them. Quirky and off-centre, shocking and unexpected; from the violence of
No Country for Old Men to the irreverence of The Big Lebowski; the darkness that is Fargo to the black humour of O Brother, Where Art Thou, straight story tellers they are not. Until now.

Their most recent project - not a remake but an adaptation of the 1969 classic of the same name (starring John Wayne) - itself based on the novel by Charles Portis- is strangely subdued. Conventions are left unchallenged; audiences left unruffled, actors left simply to act.

It helps, of course, when you have at your disposal an army of academy award winning actors. Jeff Bridges, rapidly turning into the grand old man of Hollywood, as the almost permanently inebriated but ultimately good-hearted, lawman, Rooster Cogburn, this time played with a darkness that escaped the range of John Wayne; Matt Damon as a dandified Texas Ranger, LeBoeuf, full of pompous pride and self-importance but he too kind and well-intentioned; Josh Brolin as the heartless but dull-witted, murderer, Tom Cheney; not to mention a dazzling performance from newcomer, Hailee Steinfeld, as a relentlessly determined and fiercely intelligent, fatherless, 14 year old, Mattie Ross.

Bridges is his usual formidable self, his performance effortless, the consummate professional. He now needs to cement his newly acquired iconic status with a more serious, non-inebriated role. Damon frankly disappoints; more dandy than cowboy, more caricature than character, ultimately descending into a figure of fun. For all their banter, the relationship between Damon and Bridges fails to get going and they are left like teenagers squabbling over Mattie's affections. The surprise package is Mattie herself; ( innocent and charming yet with a powerful screen presence not unlike the young(er) Charlotte Johansson.

But allowing actors freedom is one thing; abandoning them altogether is quite impossible for the Coen brothers. Some wonderful photography enhances the modest plot in what is a dark, cold and snowy setting, far removed from the Californian sunshine of its predecessor. At times the brothers risk losing control; here some severed fingers, there a decaying corpse hanging mysteriously from a tree. But somehow, the film stays true to the story, true to its predecessor and true to itself. As the credits rolled, it became clear why; Executive Producer, Steven Spielberg.

Verdict
A good, well-acted yarn. 6/10

Dick Morgan
February 2011