True Grit

The Coen Brothers definitely have a vision in cinema. The Coen Brothers consistently take classic elements in movie genres and storytelling and flush and explode all of these elements of the classicism out into expertly crafted filmmaking. This time around the result is a western, True Grit.

True Grit feels more like a dark drama but wants to be a story driven Western. Following the murder of her father, a 14-year-old farm girl Mattie Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) sets out to capture the killer Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin). Very clever and effectively resourceful, Mattie hires the toughest U.S. marshal her money can buy, a man with "true grit" by the name of Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges). Against his wishes, Mattie insists on joining him in his trek into the Indian Nation in search of Chaney joined by Texas Ranger LaBoeuf (Matt Damon), who also wants Chaney for his own purposes. Once again Brolin sneaks in a great performance.

In another year when the Academy which gives out the Oscar awards and Hollywood has failed to integrate its imagines, stories, films, technicians, writers, directors, actors, editors, producers or otherwise with Blacks, it is a certain irony that Mattie is brought to recover her dead father’s body by a Black man. Mattie also purchases her horse with the assistance of a young Black boy. Finally she goes on to name the horse Little Black. Those darn Coen Brothers.

The western is a cinema genre of which I am not a big fan. I find it too steep in the Americana man and how the West was won without much said for all that was lost in the struggle. Nevertheless, True Grit has solid acting, the sets and locations are great and the story is engaging. Bang. Bang. Or ka-chang! Ka-chang at the box office.