Originally, in 1969 “True Grit” was an ordinary John Wayne western. Throw in Jeff Bridges (“Iron Man”), Matt Damon (“The Bourne Trilogy”), Josh Brolin (“No Country for Old Men”)and the Coen brothers (“No Country for Old Men”) and we have a modern day version of “True Grit.” Not modern day in the sense that times in the movie changed. It was still western. But it was modern day in a sense that it related to the audience of today. The story was much darker than the original version and I think that’s what resonates with the audience in 2010. This is not the generation of a light-hearted John Wayne movie. Despite deviating from the style of the 1969 John Wayne movie “True Grit” stayed true to the original’s plot.
Going into this movie I had high expectations for the cast of “True Grit.” Bridges, Damon, Brolin and Barry Pepper (“61,” “Saving Private Ryan”) are all fantastic actors. They all came through with solid performances. However, Hailee Steinfeld surprised me. Steinfeld stood out among an all-star cast. I thought she would just be this annoying girl but she had cool moments. The delivery of her lines was beautiful and she went toe-to-toe with some of the best actors in the business.
BOTTOM LINE: The spectular acting and darker adaptation helped “True Grit” thrive. I give the Coen brothers a lot of credit.
4 OUT OF 5 STARS
“True Grit” has a 94% rating at Rotten Tomatoes and 8.5 stars out of 10 at The Internet Movie Database.
“True Grit” has made approximately $36 million at the box office against a production budget of $38 million, according to Box Office Mojo.
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