I finally got around to seeing True Grit. Since Flopping Aces is a conservative blog with a western theme, I find it fitting to do a movie review on a genre that Hollywood has all but forgotten about in recent years.
I haven’t seen the John Wayne classic since I was a kid. I’ve heard a couple of reviewers claim that this reincarnation of the movie (more a “redoing” than a “remake”) is better and more true to the novel (which I never read). That may be true; but I also think both versions can be appreciated on their own terms.
The acting was superb (at first, I had some difficulty understanding what the hell Jeff Bridges was saying, until I got used to his gravel voice and vernacular).
John Wayne will always be “the Duke”, whose stature as a cinematic American iconic hero is neither threatened nor diminished by Jeff Bridges’ reinventing of the U.S. marshal, “Rooster” Cogburn. But Bridges makes the role his own, as well he should (imitation is pale in comparison to the original, so why would any actor waste his time mimicking the Duke?).
Matt Damon did such a great job in his role that for almost 2 hours I forgot that I got absorbed in his on-screen character, forgetting that in real life he is an idiot Howard Zinn-liberal actor.
Hailee Steinfeld is a rising star who plays her role beautifully.
I loved the score and the look. The violence was fitting. It reminded me in some ways of “Unforgiven”.
What are readers’ impressions?
A former fetus, the “wordsmith from nantucket” was born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1968. Adopted at birth, wordsmith grew up a military brat. He achieved his B.A. in English from the University of California, Los Angeles (graduating in the top 97% of his class), where he also competed rings for the UCLA mens gymnastics team. The events of 9/11 woke him from his political slumber and malaise. Currently a personal trainer and gymnastics coach.
The wordsmith has never been to Nantucket.