True Grit -- non-spoilery review

[hesychasm]

I think I've seen more Oscar-nominated movies this year than any year previously.

In terms of where I'd rank them from most liked to least liked:

1. True Grit
2. The King's Speech
3. The Fighter
4. Inception
5. Toy Story 3
6. The Social Network
7. Black Swan

I've already posted about Inception here and I don't have anything to say about Toy

Comments

[maidenjedi]

YES. All of this, x100. I grew up on the John Wayne version, which is most definitely John Wayne's movie (which is why they went and made a standalone "Rooster Cogburn" flick, which because of Katherine Hepburn is superior to that first "True Grit"). I think the first version was good for what it was, which was like most adaptations - a star vehicle that forgets it had substantial source material from which to work.

Hands down, this new version is the superior adaptation and superior film. I'm a Coen bros. junkie, and they filmed big portions of this film in and around Austin (the old opera house, where we go for fancy lunches/dances/fundraisers, was used for downtown Memphis), so I was predisposed to loving it when I walked in. And boy did I. This was very much Maddie's film and story, and Hailee Steinfeld blew me away in her portrayal.

Still need to read the book, though. Really looking forward to it.

[hesychasm]

Ah yes, I read about the Hepburn sequel. Had no idea she ever did a Western! I need to check it out.

Hailee Steinfeld was so poised and full of conviction. I was appalled to watch the credits roll and see her name come not only after the title, but after several adult male actors who were also after the title. I guess she had the "and" or "with" credit, but *sigh*. I can only hope her time will come.

[20thcenturyvole]

Ugh, I loved this film to death. I am a fan the Coens' films, but I can't deny that they do tend to have an ironic distance to them that makes emotional investment either difficult or painful. So basically, the fact that by the end of this film I was totally in love with Mattie and Rooster and even LaBoeuf was a welcome surprise. And the end! 40-year-old Mattie rocking her one-armed spinsterhood, just as quick and sharp and self-reliant as she was at 14, but also capable of the same carefully measured affection. And then, without changing tone, she tears the sitting man a new one for not standing in the presence of a lady. Awesome.

[hesychasm]

they do tend to have an ironic distance to them that makes emotional investment either difficult or painful

Yes, exactly! They're hard films, as in tangibly hard, behind a glass wall. There's no mixing of emotions between me and the characters.

I loved Mattie at age 40, and I hated that she was never able to reconnect with Rooster and LaBoeuf, because yes, like you I'd come around to loving them by the end. And you know, I figured Mattie would never get married, because who could ever deserve her? Byt to have that series of revelations come one after the other: that she never saw these two guys again, that she never married, that she's walking off into the credits as a single stark figure against an empty horizon...it just felt so lonely. I admired her and was in awe of her, but still felt the lack of companionship she must have had all her life. And that's an emotional connection I've never felt for any Coen brothers character.

[geekturnedvamp]

I thought the ending was fitting for the character, but I was still like "there has to be fix-it fic!", and then Sarah wrote some for me here.

[hesychasm]

How did we ever cope before fic??

[hesychasm]

Oh, man. Now I'm on a kick. Check this out: http://community.livejournal.com/het_reccers/342153.html