Monday, February 22, 2021

True Grit (2010): Movie Review (Scripted)

Video version of an old post (as I explained about HERE)
For the original post, see:
http://joelswagman.blogspot.com/2011/02/true-grit.html

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2 comments:

Whisky Prajer said...

Now THIS on the other hand is a movie I remember! I can't believe it's ten years old. Had you asked me prior to these videos when Kick-Ass and True Grit were released, I would have said Kick-Ass was probably 20 years old and Grit was maybe five.

In fairness, I can't think of anyone else discussing movies from 10 years ago, so it might not be a "quality" issue for this film. And there may be other elements at play as well. The Coen Brothers are in a category of their own -- nobody compares their movies to other movies that played at the time, but critics do love to rank the Coen ouevre. And I think True Grit usually makes it close to the top. (Hm -- I just re-checked this list from 2014, and he seems to regard Grit as a disappointment.)

The novel it's based on is another stumbling block. People who enjoy Charles Portis' writing are fanatical about it. I am not one of those people, but the Coens definitely are. They are VERY deferential to Portis with this movie, but the truth is they've made movies from scratch that better capture Portis' tone than this one does. A Serious Man or even The Big Lebowski is closer to what Portis does on the page.

The John Wayne movie is worth watching, btw. But don't expect his performance to bring any surprises. His Oscar acceptance speech wasn't far off the mark. John Wayne is still John Wayne. But he'd lost half a lung to cancer, along with the stamina to get himself back into shape for a role. And he hadn't lost the appetite for drink. So we saw a grizzled, gutty John Wayne this time -- with an eye-patch. I'd be curious to hear what you think of it.

February 23, 2021 at 8:18 AM
Joel Swagman said...

As always Whisky, thanks for your insight. I learned a lot from this comment.

One of these days I plan to watch the John Wayne movie--just for its pop culture history value if nothing else.

Good point about the Coen Brothers. I should have remembered that their movies will always be remembered, if for no other reason than to compare them to other Coen Brothers movies.

February 24, 2021 at 10:37 AM

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