True Grit is a remake of the John Wayne classic of the same name. The story is about a little girl named Mattie Ross and she's set to avenge her father by killing Tom Cheney, the man who killed him. But in order to do so, she hires Rooster Cogburn to assist her in bringing Tom Cheney to justice.
I personally hate remakes. None of them ever end up being as good as the original or even good in general. That being said, I honestly enjoyed this remake more than the original! Here's why:
Jeff Bridges is a great actor and is just plain awesome in general. In this film, he's a gun-slingin', angry drunk and he plays his role as Rooster Cogburn almost too well. He was also pretty funny at times but his humor wasn't said at a time where it would feel awkward or just fall flat. A little unknown actress named Hallie Steifeld plays Mattie Ross and she actually held up next to Jeff Bridges. She managed to not be one of those irritating kid actors that try to act cool but they really just come off as irritating. Because if the Phantom Menace taught us anything it is to tread lightly when watching movies with kid actors in the leading roles. Her character was determined, independent, headstrong and also pretty cute. What's not to like? Matt Damon plays a Texas ranger that assists Mattie and Rooster and his character is more or less the comic relief. Granted his character is important to the story, but his character was more or less the comic relief. For me, that didn't detract from the film, I'm just being nit-picky here.
The biggest bummer about this movie is that you don't actually meet Tom Cheney until more than halfway though the run-time. I would have liked to see more of him but for the time he was in he was good.
The dialogue between Bridges, Steifeld and Damon is really well written and entertaining. The film has a great look to it also. It has an artsy look to it but it isn't artsy at all. If anything, it's gritty and realistic.
Final Report: True Grit is well acted by the entire cast, sharply written and features a star-making performance by Hallie Steifeld. If you don't like this movie, then I have to believe that you're a one-eyed fat man.
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