True Grit (2010)

Release Date: 

22 Dec 2010 (USA)
(viewed SA 26 Feb 2012)
Director:
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen

Writers: 
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen based on a novel by Charles Portis

Cast: 
Jeff Bridges

Hailie Steinfeld

Matt Damon

IMDb link and rating:
7.8

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1403865/

Plot Synopsis:
A young woman, determined to see her father’s killer brought to justice, enlists the aid of an unlikely hero.

Stephen:

6.0

Having watched this 2010 remake of True Grit just twenty-four hours after watching the 1969 original, I can scarcely avoid comparing the two. And in most of the head-to-head matchups of characters and details, the new film falls slightly short. It’s not that it’s bad--I enjoyed the movie--but there were a few differences that were conspicuous to me only because of the direct comparison.

The biggest of these was probably the script, which was considerably inferior in this remake. Paradoxically, it was the suprising fidelity to the original script throughout much of the film (whole stretches of dialogue seemed to be reproduced word for word) that made the missing details stand out in relief. It seemed like the Coen brothers had gone out of their way to remove details that were, if not exactly essential, at least important in fleshing out the characters. Lynne gave several examples of this below, all of which I agree with. One of the most important changes, which Lynne didn’t write but had pointed out to me while watching the film, was the fact that the remake presented revenge as Mattie’s motive--or at least treated revenge and justice interchangeably, blurred the distinction between the two--while the original made it clear that Mattie was interested only in justice.

I liked Hailee Steinfeld’s performance as Mattie Ross, though her interpretation was significantly different than Kim Darby’s in the original. Miss Steinfeld’s Mattie was serious and sullen. Darby’s character was serious, too, but not sullen. Both conveyed Mattie’s courage and intensity very well, but in Darby’s character we suspect that under the layers there is a burning desire to live, while Steinfeld’s character suggests stoic resignation. (This is reinforced by the dreadful ending.)

One thing I liked better about this version of the film is Matt Damon’s portrayal of La Boeuf, compared to Glen Campbell’s in the original. He’s a little more mysterious and a little less foolish.

The film ended on a completely different chord than the original did--and that chord, frankly, was senselessly dissonant where the original was uplifting. Maybe that is simply the Hollywood formula nowadays: End on a bitter note to inject a bit of “realism,” lest the film be accused of melodrama or naive optimism. To me, that is just poor writing reflecting poor thinking.

Lynne:
6.5

It is much more difficult to rate this film on its own merit given that I watched and enjoyed the original so much more the night before.  Plainly, while the script and action veered only slightly from the original, I felt that in all but one minor case, those diversions detracted from the character of Mattie Ross.

Mattie2.0 was certainly as spirited and directed as the original Mattie; however, in giving us no clue as to her relationship with her father, the writers gave us no hint that her coldness in finding him dead is not a quirk of her personality. When she negotiates with the horse dealer, she comes back with documentation regarding the final agreed upon price rather than enter the negotiations all prepared. The original presentation of that scene shows not only her tremendous knowledge of horse dealing, but also her confidence in her abilities to reach that price.

The introduction to Cogburn’s Chinese store-owning friend is as the man who shows Mattie where Cogburn is sleeping in the back room rather than by Cogburn as his “family” as was in the original. Mattie’s meeting with the Texas Ranger, played well by Matt Damon, is much more threatening in this version, taking place in the bedroom, than funny as it was in the original. Mattie talks more of avenging her father’s death, than of justice.

Rooster Cogburn is still a drunkard and mean bounty hunter, but he leaves the dead thieves at the cabin rather than bringing them to the nearest outpost for burial as he did in the original. I think this detracts from his character.  While still an ancillary player, the Texas Ranger was a better developed character in this one and I appreciated his altered fate.

But the worst blow in this movie was the ending. Rather than left as steadfast, practical, and loving, Mattie is shown many years later as a bitter old woman. I found that to be an inexcusable betrayal of the indefatigable, plucky character I began to love in the original movie. 

Action Items:
Read the novel by Charles Portis. It may be that the 2010 version of the movie is closer to the author's story and the 1969 version is more to its director's liking. (L)

Supplementary Details: 
There was a noticeable increase in biblical references in this newer version and a noticeable absence of Mattie’s ruling philosophy. (L)

True Grit (1969)

Release Date:
11 June 1969 (USA)
(viewed SA 25 Feb 2012)
Director:
Henry Hathaway
Writers:
Marguerite Roberts based on a novel by Charles Portis
Cast:

John Wayne

Kim Darby

Glen Campbell
IMDb link and rating:
7.3

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065126/

Plot Synopsis:
A young woman, determined to see her father’s killer brought to justice, enlists the aid of an unlikely hero.

Stephen:
7.5
As strange as it may seem, I have not seen any John Wayne movies--or if I have, I have no memory of it--so my expectations of the legend were just a bit higher than what Mr. Wayne actually achieved in this film. I don’t mean he performed poorly. On the contrary, I liked his portrayal of Rooster Cogburn, the rough-around-the-edges lawman who “loved to pull a cork” as often, or at least as freely, as he pulled a trigger. He exhibited just the right combination of humor and justice; his was a wisdom evidently accumulated over a lifetime of hardtack and long, lonely trails, punctuated by encounters with the bad guys. Rooster was a man of moral clarity (“You can’t serve papers on a rat; you gotta’ kill ‘im or let ‘im be”), tainted only mildly by one instance of a . . . shall we say nuanced view of stealing. My problem--and I fully admit it may be my problem--is that I expected John Wayne to have a somewhat larger presence on the screen, an intensity of a Humphrey Bogart, Orson Wells, or Joseph Cotton. In this film, at least, Wayne was overshadowed by a teenage girl.

Mattie Ross, played by Kim Darby, was resourceful, courageous, and delightful, almost masculine in her single-minded pursuit of justice, but feminine enough to stoke the concerns due damsels in distress. She was bright and bold--a Hermione Granger of the American west--savvy in financial negotiations, intrepid even when caught in the grips of overpowering scoundrels. (Not to mention the grips of a good guy: the Texas Ranger La Boeuf. This character, played by Glen Campbell, in one scene issued a sustained parental spanking upon the bottom of the writhing Mattie, an action that prompts puzzling and somewhat uncomfortable questions about the motives and possible fetishes of this La Boeuf, considering that he had previously flirted with her and, somewhat darkly, threatened both to kiss and spank her. To this threat, Mattie responded with her typical dignified courage: “One would be as unwelcome as the other.”)

On the face of things, of course, Rooster is the character with “grit,” the single quality that Mattie seeks out in him because she is convinced it is the human trait that will deliver justice in her circumstances. She’s right, though in the end, we observe that true grit is in the greatest supply in Mattie herself.

Lynne:
8.5
How have I gotten this old and never seen this movie? 

Mattie Ross is a revelation!  As a clearly serious and directed young woman, she is intently focused on catching her father’s killer and bringing him to justice one way or the other.  She looks law men and outlaws in the eyes and asks her questions without apology or allowing a brush off. She is both demanding and unafraid of the actions her demands might place on herself.  We see her acting with tremendous thought and practicality, putting aside her emotions for a time when she can deal with them properly.

Specifically, when she enlists the help of the “meanest” US Marshall, Rooster Cogburn, played by an older John Wayne, Mattie doggedly pursues Cogburn not only to take the job, but further to meet his end of the contract she forced him to sign for payment.  She is intolerant of his drinking, but never a scold. Deep in commerce with a killer bounty hunter, she never loses her perspective; exposed to brutality and murder, she never loses her humanity.

Perhaps due to the short haircut and the fact that I just finished “The Maid” by Kimberley Cutter, I could not help but think of Joan of Arc.  No, Mattie Ross did not lead the French to victory over the English based on voices in her head. Much more importantly, Mattie Ross’s victory over injustice was based solely on her ability to think and reason. She, like Joan, was fearless in the face of her convictions. 

Finally, regarding Mattie’s character, I was also reminder of most of Rudyard Kipling’s poem, If, but particularly the opening lines:

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating, 
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise: 

Mattie did this in spades and was the one with True Grit.

On John Wayne and the other actors in the movie – I’ve loved John Wayne since seeing The Cowboys (1972), but I didn’t so much enjoy watching him as the drunkard Rooster Cogburn.  He seemed really, really old to me which is weird given that The Cowboys was released three years later, and the movie, Rooster Cogburn, with Katharine Hepburn,  three years after that. Also worth noting is a very young Dennis Hopper as the hapless thief, Moon, and a young – not Boo Radley young, but youthful – Robert Duvall as the unrepentant Ned Pepper.  Glen Campell  finely played a secondary character but in a ostensibly primary role.  The made-for-tv western movie music was simply a distraction.

Action Items:
Watch True Grit 2010 and compare.  Watch old John Wayne movies: Island in the Sky, The Sea Chase, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, among others.


Supplementary Details:
None.