True Grit

QUENTIN BEROUD gives a great yee-haw for the Coen Brothers’ latest.

coen brothers cowboys Film jeff bridges oscars quentin beroud true grit

Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, showing at the Arts Picturehouse from Friday 11th February

[rating: 5/5]


Imagine a Western. Now imagine a Western directed by the Coen brothers. Now put Jeff Bridges in the lead role. Now ask yourself, why haven’t I seen this film?

The first Coens – Bridges partnership since The Big Lebowski (and remaking a classic John Wayne film as well) needed to be pretty damn good to meet the justifiably high expectations. Well it is. Bridges himself is supported by a superb cast including Matt Damon as self-important Texas Ranger La Beouf (pronounced ‘Labeef’), and a fantastically villainous Josh Brolin.

The revelation of the film is Hailee Steinfeld. She plays Mattie Ross, the young heroine in pursuit of the man who killed her father, and manages to be totally credible as a smart 14 year-old making her way in a time dominated by ill-educated cowboys and swindling clerks as she combines vulnerability with sharp wit. She more than holds her own in scenes with Bridges and Damon, and her Oscar nomination is completely deserved

Bridges, of course, is just awesome. He was cool before, but with an eye-patch and two revolvers replacing the Jelly shoes and White Russian, you need to invent new words to describe just how much of an inspiring screen presence he is as Reuben ‘Rooster’ Cockburn. The Coens know it too; they are never afraid to zoom right in on his grizzled face. If the thought of a mounted shoot-out involving Bridges and four bad guys doesn’t set your blood racing, then I don’t know what will.

The Coens re-use a lot of the classic Wild West images – the hat, the gun, the horse – yet manage to avoid seeming clichéd.  Yes a cowboy gallops across the prairie against the setting sun, but it works. This is perhaps thanks to the effort at naturalism that is so uncharacteristic of most raging Westerns. The cowboys speak like the under educated cattle men they are, people shooting from horseback miss more than they hit, and one bullet from the good guy does not automatically equal slapstick death for six villains.

The film doesn’t pull any punches, either, with moments of shocking violence punctuating the beautiful scenery and funny, touching screenplay, combining to make a brilliant ensemble. Even the ending, which I suspect some people will feel is disappointingly abrupt, reminds us of the fleeting nature of the heroic deeds of the time; just another facet of the film’s poignancy.

So: great cast, genius directors, sumptuous cinematography- a thrilling and affecting Western that is at the same time, well, truly gritty.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GkAH7IUWOE