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It's difficult to tackle a film that might stand in
the shadow of an iconic film or actor in an iconic role.
When John Wayne made "True Grit" over 40 years ago no one
imagined that someone else would tackle Charles Portis'
marvelous, detailed and accurate novel. I'm sure Wayne never
imagined that someone else would tackle the role of "Rooster"
Cogburn much less deliver such a different, less heroic
and more flawed portrayal as Jeff Bridges delivers in the
2010 version of "True Grit". ***
"True Grit" is an unusual movie from the Coen's; it
eschews all the unusual humor, quirky trappings and references
to other literary works in a straight ahead genre film.
It's a valentine to the western genre and, like the previous
film version (it's not a remake folks--the two films share
the same source novel as a starting point BUT the Coen's
film does not use the Wayne version as the basis for this--that
would be a remake), a well made film that's authentic to
many of the details of the time but made for a 21st century
audience as opposed to a 20th century audience with differing
levels of sophistication. ***
When 14 year old Mattie Ross' (Steinfeld) father is
murdered by a hired hand named Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin)
she decides to take matters into her own hands to take him
down; she hires Marshall Reuben "Rooster" Cogburn (Bridges)
a one-eyed merciless killer and drunk to track down Chaney
and bring him to justice. Unfortunately Chaney is also being
pursued by Texas Ranger LeBoeuf (Damon) hunting the man
for killing a senator. The odd trio agree to join forces
to try and capture Chaney and bring him to justice although
each has his own agenda. ---
As with all of the Coen's projects their attention
to detail is remarkable and Roger Deakins' photography often
breathtaking. Shot on film in Super 35mm, the often austere
vistas of Texas have amazing depth and detail. The sound
mix is also awesome for the film although be aware that
sometimes dialogue can be a bit muffled not due to the recording
but due to the performances by the actors (particularly
Bridges) as he creates the cadence of Cogburn's unique accent
and speech patterns. ---
Image & Sound:
True Grit looks quite nice with a sharp looking transfer
that accurately represents the look and texture of the theatrical
exhibition of the movie. Colors are accurate with nice flesh
tones. Textures are nicely captured from skin textures to
the wooden exteriors of the buildings or the coffins we
see in the film. Black levels are perfect throughout and
the film receives a sharp, clean transfer with remarkable
depth and clarity. Over all this is a superior demo quality
transfer of the film and I doubt we'll see it topped any
time soon with any other transfers for Blu-ray of the same
film. ***
Audio is likewise quite brilliant with a detailed, very
active audio transfer that captures the smallest details.
Dialogue is presented clearly and cleanly. The surround
channels are active with the smallest amount of sounds creating
a nearly perfect aural environment.
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