01/05/2011
Review by David Anthony
Hollywood has a special stake in the remake. There is something reassuring about revisiting a tried and true work a few decades later to make it more modern and relevant, or to squeeze a bit more revenue out of a well that once gushed—or didn’t.
Occasionally, however, more happens in a retelling of a once or even twice told tale, either because the filmmakers return to the original concept or written text or have a new take on it, or choose a cast that brings it to life in a novel way. Each applies in the Coen Brothers fresh treatment of this erstwhile signature 1969 John Wayne vehicle.
Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon and, especially, the brilliant newcomer, Hailee Steinfeld, as Mattie, the narrator, heroine, and constant presence in this gnarly narrative, breathe new life into a saga no one else has had the temerity to touch since old Duke’s death.
For those who have not seen the original, or have difficulty recalling the story line, a 14 year old womanchild, Mattie Ross, leaves her native Arkansas, seeking justice for her recently murdered father in Indian Territory. On arrival, she tries to enlist a tracker with “true grit” to find the culprit, with a view toward seeing that he is apprehended by the authorities. Scuttlebutt has it that the shamus she seeks is one Rooster Cogburn, played by Jeff Bridges, an irascible old coot who thinks nothing of dispatching any no account varmint who gets in his way, or stands between him and his next drink.
Along the way appears a serious minded Texas Ranger named LeBoeuf (Matt Damon) who is also after the trigger man, Tom Chaney, played by Josh Brolin. In short order all four are in Oklahoma where the plot thickens. Mattie provides the yarn that knits these characters and the plot together in a script containing many memorable turns of phrase, lending a striking degree of eloquence to the frontier.
Lest we get swept away by the majesty of the performances, however, it is crucial to add that this is an unsentimental portrait of some of the men (and women) who won the West. In a small but sadly savage series of scenes it vividly shows how cruelly Native Americans were treated even perhaps most harshly inside “Indian Country.” This starts at the outset of the film and punctuates it at critical moments thereafter. At times some of these instances elicited nervous giggles from audience members, but I cannot imagine anyone not noticing what lay behind the laughter. “True Grit” is exceptional in its courage to tackle this oppression in its raw state, but this should not be ignored: Academy Award nomination quality performances or no, it is hard on Native American Indian people. And yet, that it is a given in the American story.
We should never allow ourselves to overlook that commonplace, mundane, evil fact.
For the KUSP Film Gang, this is David Anthony.