Editorials > True Grit's Potential


It’s early January and people are mostly excited for the impending football playoffs (thanks to the BetUS Super Bowl Odds, my money is on the sexy pick: New England). However, I’m more eager to learn which movie will be nominated for the Academy Awards’ Best Picture. While I liked Black Swan, Blue Valentine, Inception, and The Social Network more because they were better movies as a whole, there was one film that had the potential to trounce them all – True Grit.

I’ve been a Coen Brothers fan since I first laid sober eyes on The Big Lebowski, and my admiration for them has grown with the viewing of each of their films (even despite The Ladykillers). Couple that with my love for Westerns and True Grit was a cinematic wet dream come true. Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Josh Brolin, Barry Pepper – and especially Hailee Steinfeld – all turn in fantastic performances. Longtime collaborator, cinematographer Roger Deakins, does another spectacular job in making the film look beautiful. The dialogue is sharp while the mixture of slapstick and wit provides a wonderful balance in humor.

Despite the aforementioned, True Grit left me with a nagging feeling of disappointment. I might have built the ending up too much going into the theater, but that deserves just partial blame. The ending felt so rushed and un-Coens-esque. Everything in the story was executed so well through the first ninety or so minutes, and all that the Coens had built seemed to unravel shortly after.

Considering how much they’ve talked about remaining faithful to the Charles Portis novel though, I’ll just chalk it up to the Brothers having no choice. Despite the lackluster conclusion, True Grit was still one of the best I saw in 2010 and was a mere fifteen or so minutes away from being the very best. Check it out, and see for yourself. Jeff Bridges alone is worth the price of admission.

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