Walking Taco
Movie and TV Reviews.
Dwise1
MJV
MovieSeal
TacoGrande
You are here: Home / Archives for Barry Pepper
True Grit (2010)
December 31, 2010 By Matt V 3 Comments
The Coen Brothers have been on a winning streak for quite some time. Now the raves have been spooling over their remake of the John Wayne classic True Grit and I haven't the faintest idea why—other than the fact that they are the Coen Brothers. Not to say this is a particularly bad movie by any means, but it practically left my mind about as quickly as it entered it.
Set in the 1880s, willful 14-year-old girl Matty Ross (Hailee Steinfeld) hires the wild one-eyed sheriff Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Bridges) to track down her father's murderer, Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin) en route through Indian territory. Texas Ranger LeBoeuf (Matt Damon) joins Matty and Rooster for the manhunt. LeBoeuf wants Chaney to hang in Texas for crimes committed in the state. Matty wants to see him at the end of the noose for her father's murder. Let the trademark Coen banter ensue, as True Grit quickly evolves from its revenge western saga shell into a full blown comedy.
Yes, that's right. True Grit is not the movie being advertised in TV spots. What we really have here is a witty, dialogue-driven comedy with sprinkles of violence. Very reminiscent of the Coen's Fargo, I ate up the back-and-forth between Damon, Bridges, and Steinfeld. Steinfeld especially carries her own here, and I see Oscar smiling down on her fondly in the future. Much has been said about Bridges in the title role, and I have to say his interpretation of Cogburn is a puzzling one. His drawl becomes so mumbled and distorting that I had trouble sorting through his words. I think he finds the heart of the character, but I didn't find his performance all that engaging. For me, the movie was really the Steinfeld show.
All of this admiration for the writing and comedy leaves me wondering where the 'grit' went. I enjoyed the Coen Brothers lighting a signature spark here, but I left True Grit craving for a little more drama—something eventful perhaps. The Coens grace us with a parody of a Western, and while the comedy no doubt worked out well, I felt like the movie came to a close in a bit of an incomplete fashion. Of course it ends in a shootout of good guys and bad guys, but there's little intensity or excitement in the pursuit. Even Josh Brolin's mug doesn't make an appearance until the final ten minutes or so. True Grit is a well-made, well-written film that left a void unfulfilled.
Have you seen this movie? Rate it!
Filed Under: Comedy, Western Tagged With: Barry Pepper, Hailee Steinfeld, Jeff Bridges, Josh Brolin, Matt Damon, The Coen Brothers
By Matt V 1 Comment
This box office jaggernaut from another world has dulled Bella Swan's newfound fangs, effectively pulverizing teenage angst and sketchy expectations to deliver a stateside phenomenon that can already be touted as 2012's greatest success story at the movies. Young teenage Katniss Everdeen's fight to death has resonated with audiences in such a way that approaching […]
By Matt V Leave a Comment
Welcome to the confused underbelly of Tim Burton's wild imagination, and though I wish that would make for an illustrious compliment, the large-scale director has seen his best days over a decade ago and still can't regain his footing. Lately the man has been choosing source material (Sweeney Todd, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) so […]
By Matt V 2 Comments
Armed men hijack a New York City subway train, holding the passengers hostage in return for a ransom, and turning an ordinary day's work for dispatcher Walter Garber (Denzel Washington) into a face-off with the mastermind (John Travolta) behind the crime (IMDB). Tony Scott's attempt at remaking 1974's "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three" surprisingly fails, […]
Member, The Large Association of Movie Blogs
Trailer-Based Predictions for the 87th Oscars
The 5 Most Underrated Movies of All Time
The 5 Most Overrated Movies of All Time
Hansel & Gretal: Witch Hunters
Gamerzitch
Harrington for County Attorney
MJV & The Movies at Criticker.com
Movie Zeal
The Movie Encyclopedia
Walking Taco YouTube Channel
Review Categories Select Category Books (4) Miscellaneous (10) Movies (280) Action (154) Animation (16) Anime (1) Comedy (67) Documentary (21) Drama (79) Family (29) Horror (31) Independent (6) Musical (5) Mystery (20) Romance (20) Science Fiction (42) Sports (5) War (12) Western (4) Opinion Articles (19) TV Shows (28) Arrested Development (1) Battlestar Galactica (3) Downton Abbey (1) Firefly (1) Heroes (2) Lost (3) Man vs. Food (2) Psych (1) Star Trek: Enterprise (9) Star Trek: Voyager (2) Uncategorized (17) Video Reviews (6)
Tags (mouse over to view)
0 Stars 1 Star 2 Stars 3 Stars 4 Stars Action adventure Alan Rickman Bruce Willis Comedy daniel radcliffe Disney Documentary Drama Dwayne Johnson emma watson Enterprise George Lucas Harry potter history Horror J.J. Abrams J.K. Rowling james cameron James Franco Jeremy Renner Johnny Depp Jon Favreau Kristen Stewart liam neeson Mark Wahlberg morgan freeman Ralph Fiennes Robert Downey Jr. Robert Pattinson Robert Rodriguez rupert grint Samuel L. Jackson Science Fiction Sigourney Weaver Star Trek Sylvester Stallone tom cruise War Zach Galifianakis
Text Copyright © 2009-2011 © Walking Taco
Images are property of their respective owners.
Copyright © 2021 · Genesis Framework by StudioPress · WordPress · Log in