Coen brothers' 'True Grit' puts bleak, modern spin on the John Wayne classic By Tom Long Detroit News Film Critic rue Grit' may not be the Coen brothers' best film, but it may turn out to be their most popular. Then again, maybe not. It's a western, and modern audiences don't seem to cotton to westerns much. But if there's any western likely to win them over, it's this one. A reworking of the John Wayne classic, which itself was based on the book by Charles Portis, this 'True Grit' stars Jeff Bridges as the garrulous, shoot-first, mean-spirited U.S. Marshal Rooster Cogburn. Slurring his words through a scraggly beard with a croak of a voice while maintaining a Duke-like swagger even when he's drunk, Bridges chews the heck out of the role. Impressive newcomer Hailee Steinfeld stars - and she really is the center of the film - as Mattie Ross, a 14-year-old girl whose father is shot by a drunken cowhand while away on business. Arriving in town to claim her father's body and possessions, Mattie looks to hire the meanest marshal she can to hunt down her father's killer, Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin). That would be Rooster, who won't budge until he knows Mattie actually has some cash. In the meantime Mattie discovers that Chaney is already a wanted man, and a Texas Ranger named LaBoeuf (Matt Damon) is after him. Once Mattie has some cash, Rooster hooks up with LaBoeuf and takes off into Indian country to find Chaney, trying to leave Mattie behind. But the determined girl will not be deterred and chases after the two. Thus begins the chase as well as a series of break-ups and make-ups within the group. Rooster believes Chaney has hooked up with the Lucky Ned Pepper (Barry Pepper) gang, and so on they all ride, knowing danger awaits. While this may sound like fairly standard stuff, this is the Coen brothers ('No Country for Old Men,' 'Fargo') writing and directing, so the perspective remains humorously bleak throughout. The brothers help their wonderfully odd tone by adapting much of Portis' flowery language directly from the novel and then writing their own dialogue to match. The result is an always entertaining cross between Shakespeare and 'Deadwood.' And, as always, they thrive on the unexpected: When a mountain man appears, when a corpse is found hanging, when a trip for water turns deadly - this is classic Coen stuff. Not that the brothers exhibit their usual complete sense of control. The beginning is a bit slow, the end is abrupt, and the middle of the film gets downright squishy, with Rooster and LaBoeuf stopping for a sloppy show of shooting expertise. Still, it's (almost) all in good fun, with Bridges and Damon bouncing off one another and Steinfeld giving the film a string to follow. It's hard to say how much range Steinfeld has - her role here is very specific and almost determinedly one-note - but she is just about perfect as Mattie Ross. 'True Grit' isn't so much a major film as a good time, and there's nothing wrong with that. Maybe this movie can get westerns back in the saddle again. tlongdetnews.com (313) 222-8879 'True Grit'True Grit' GRADE: B Rated PG-13: For some intense sequences of western violence including disturbing images Running time: 110 minutes 'True Grit' (PG-13) Jeff Bridges takes over the classic John Wayne role in this somewhat loose western remake by the Coen brothers that mixes their bleak humor with flowery language and plenty of action. (110 minutes) GRADE: B On Screen: Come back Friday for Christmas Day movie openings. Online: Watch Tom Long's video movie reviews and read his Mostly Movies blog at detnews.com/movies'True Grit' isn't so much a major film as a good time, and there's nothing wrong with that. Maybe this movie can get westerns back in the saddle again. 