Quartile rating: 7/10 · 2 ratings
Following the murder of her father by a hired hand, a 14-year-old farm girl sets out to capture the killer. To aid her, she hires the toughest U.S. Marshal she can find—a man with 'true grit'—Reuben J. 'Rooster' Cogburn.
The Coens' True Grit is elevated chiefly by its exceptional performances — Hailee Steinfeld's commanding debut as Mattie Ross and Jeff Bridges' grizzled, mumbling Cogburn are both outstanding, with strong support from Matt Damon and Josh Brolin. Roger Deakins' cinematography is characteristically masterful, capturing the wintry Arkansas frontier with a stark, painterly beauty that ranks among his finest work. The plot, drawn faithfully from Charles Portis's novel, is a lean, purposeful revenge quest that the Coens render with unusual fidelity to the source — entertaining and well-paced but not structurally surprising. As a remake, Novelty is somewhat constrained; while the Coens bring their distinctive deadpan tone, biblical diction, and dark humor, the film's overall conception is bound to familiar territory. The ending, truer to the novel's melancholy epilogue than the 1969 version, is quietly affecting but not wholly satisfying dramatically.