True Grit Blu-ray: Review By Brian Gallagher

(Reviewer's Note: This part of the review is my theatrical review which was posted before the the movie's release in December. I did watch the movie again on Blu-ray, although my thoughts on the film have not changed. I have spoken with friends about this movie recently, some of whom expressed their distaste for this remake, due to their allegiance to the original and John Wayne. Now, I am a huge fan of John Wayne, and of the original (except for the incredibly annoying Kim Darby), but I do believe there is a place for both the remake and the original. I doubt the Coen's were trying to make a "better" version of True Grit, nor do I think people should judge remakes like this. The sad fact of the matter is remakes aren't going anywhere and studios are concentrating seemingly most of their efforts on making movies with built-in audiences already intact. I don't think we should have to decide if a remake is better or worse than the original, but rather just judge it as a movie itself. I don't think the remake takes anything away from the original, or vice versa. That being said, enjoy my Blu-ray review of the True Grit remake.)

Every time I would watch one of my favorite Westerns like The Searchers or Once Upon a Time in the West, I would often marvel at the lack of Westerns existing in Hollywood today. Not just good Westerns, mind you, but just ANY Westerns. It is about as dead of a genre as any in today's movie landscape, but, if Hollywood has proven anything, it's that the industry likes to resurrect once-dead relics such as pirate movies and 3D. The Western surely seems to be the next on that list, buoyed by the strength of the Coen Brothers' True Grit, one of the best Westerns in decades and easily one of the best movies of 2010.

One of the reasons I adore Westerns so much is they can not only transport you to another place and time, but another place and time that actually existed on this earth, AND a time and place that nobody we have ever known has lived through. It's a unique plane of existence that this genre is housed in and, while it's cool to visit made-up universes or take a trip to the 1950s in a DeLorean, I have always been more attracted to the Western because, while they may be made-up characters, these were essentially portraits of real people in a real time period which thoroughly fascinates me. 

Unlike the 1969 adaptation of Charles Portis' novel, the Coen Brothers' version of True Grit puts the young Mattie Ross, who is played to Oscar-worthy perfection by young Hailee Steinfeld, at the forefront of the movie, not shoved aside to make room for The Duke. Like the 1969 adaptation, though, True Grit twenty-ten does start out with Mattie Ross searching for a man with grit to track down Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin), the man who killed her father. For a girl of her age, she is extremely determined, quick-witted and stubborn, qualities not usually found in a young girl of that time, which are put on display in a hilarious exchange with a merchant. After an equally-hilarious courtroom introduction to hardened U.S. Marshal Reuben "Rooster" Cogburn (Jeff Bridges), Mattie is convinced that Cogburn is the man to bring Tom Chaney to justice, although their party becomes a trio when the overly-eager LaBeouf (Matt Damon), who is exceedingly/humorously proud of his status as a Texas Ranger, becomes involved in the hunt for Chaney. Although Cogburn and Chaney try to ditch the little girl, she proves her determination by chasing after them and when she catches up, a unique triad is formed, one that you will not soon forget.

While the main plotline of the story is relatively similar to the 1969 film, this movie does not, by any means, rest on the shoulders of one actor. Jeff Bridges proves once again why he's one of the greatest actors of our time, stepping into a legendary role made famous by, arguably, the most iconic actor in Hollywood history, and truly making it his own. Everything about Bridges' Cogburn is simply magnificent, from his gnarly accent to his one-liners and proclivities for whiskey to his pure heart which occasionally surfaces beneath the exterior of hardened leather and bravado. Matt Damon's LaBeouf, which is pronounced "LaBeef" (Shia wouldn't stand a chance in those days...) provides a striking contrast to Cogburn. I was very happy that the "I'm a Texas Ranger" scene plays off as hilariously as I thought it would from the trailer, even though they don't really show it as a humorous moment in the previews. He has no bones about spewing the Texas Ranger way, despite his lack of jurisdiction seeing that they're in Arkansas. His back-and-forth with Cogburn provide several comedic moments throughout the movie (including a fantastic cornbread-shooting scene), but, despite the star-power of Bridges and Damon, Hailee Steinfeld is, in my mind, the biggest star of True Grit. 

With only a handful of TV guest spots and short film roles to her name, Steinfeld commands the screen against two Hollywood heavyweights, with a feature film debut that rivals Edward Norton's� bravura introduction in Primal Fear as one of the most ausp*cious movie debuts of all-time. While we expect and demand great things from the likes of Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon, to see a young actor perform with such precision, handling massive chunks of dialogue at a Sorkin-like pace, while driving the story ahead and acting against two big-screen heavyweights, is nothing short of astonishing. This role is truly a lot to ask for out of any young actor, accomplished or not, and watching Hailee Steinfeld just knock it out of the park is a testament not only to her talent, but to the Coen Brothers for making yet another gem of a find in a long history of actor discoveries. Also look for a terrific-yet-brief performances by Barry Pepper and Josh Brolin as Lucky Ned Pepper and Tom Chaney, but the trio of Bridges, Damon and Steinfeld really run the show here.

Joel and Ethan Coen have truly been at the top of their game over the past three years. No Country For Old Men won Best Picture in 2007, Burn After Reading was a terrific and goofy comedy in 2008, A Serious Man was nominated for Best Picture in 2009 and, despite the lack of love from the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, I'm expecting True Grit to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar in 2010. Most will probably be surprised at just how damn funny this movie is, after a wonderful marketing campaign that paints this as high drama set in the Old West. The marketing campaign isn't lying either, but they just don't show how hilarious True Grit really is, because they're smart enough to know that they don't NEED to tell us that. People will go to see Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon in a Coen Brothers Western and humor is just one of those nifty extras that the car salesman throws in for free to seal the deal. It continues to amaze me how they can pull such distinct performances from actors that other directors simply cannot manage to do. It's a kind of intangible greatness that you can witness but hardly describe, only to say that things you see in a Coen Brothers movie you just cannot see anywhere else. On top of that, the Coen's manage to capture the nuances of the Western filmmaking styles, with whip-smart one-liners, an occasional slow fade here and there and especially a glorious score by Carter Burwell, which is subtler than a traditional Western's heavy-handed score and, at the same time, finding a way to make it all their own. True Grit shows the Coen Brothers at the pinnacle of this greatness, and I'm sure only the Coen Brothers will find a way to go even higher.

There is a sizable about of extras on this BD disc, which also comes with a Digital Copy and a copy of the standard DVD. The extras start out with Mattie's True Grit, which features Hailee Steinfeld talking about how she came in for the role, which is apparently was late in the pre-production process. We also see parts of her original audition video and she talks about shooting in Santa Fe and about how she went to a shooting range to prepare for her shooting scenes. She also talks about working with the Coen Brothers and this five-minute featurette is a great way to kick off these bonus features, especailly since Hailee Steinfeld is one of the best parts of this phenomenal movie.

From Bustles to Buckskin - Dressing For the 1880s is next, which features costume designer Mary Zophres discussing her extensive research about the costumes. We also hear from Jeff Bridges, who reveals the costume work is of extreme importance to him when he's trying to craft a character. We hear an interesting story about how they made Bridges' coat and also from Matt Damon about his costume for LaBeouf. We also hear from Barry Pepper about his trademark wooly chaps for his Lucky Ned Pepper character, an aspect I particularly enjoyed since it distinguishes his character. The costume work is such an important aspect for a period piece Western like this, and the Coen Brothers have one of the best in the biz with Mary Zophres, whose work in True Grit earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Costume Design, although she lost out to Colleen Atwood's wonderful work for Alice in Wonderland... even though Atwood's costumes were probably one of the only good aspects of that movie. Anyway, this eight-minute featurette offers a wonderful glimpse into the fantastic costume work by Mary Zophres, and it's well worth checking out.

Colts, Winchesters, and Remingtons: The Guns of a Post-Civil War Western is up next, and it starts out with property master Keith Walters talking about how he went to the original book and other materials for research. He also talks about why they use replica guns, instead of original guns because the replica's are newer and safer, and the grips on LaBeouf's gun. Walters basically talks about the guns for all the characters, and he makes an interesting comment about how he never did this job before eBay and the Internet, which was pretty funny. If you're curious about what kinds of guns they used in True Grit, check out this four-minute feature.

Re-Creating Fort Smith is next and we first hear from executive producer Robert Graf about finding the locations for Fort Smith, along with production designer Jess Gonchor and supervising art director Christy Wilson, who said it took between three and four months to create the wonderful set for Fort Smith. It's interesting to see the actual buildings which they started with, and then what they are turned into. Gonchor also reveals that two or three people actually pulled all the leaves off all the trees on the set, since this is supposed to be set in winter time. What a glamorous job that must be... I also thought it was cool how they hid telephone and utility poles by putting tree bark around them, which is quite a nifty little trick. They also talk about acquiring the train for that brief scene in the beginning, and we even hear from the train's owner. It's another fantastic feature and this 11-minute feature shows you how much attention to detail goes into a Coen Brothers film.

The Cast is next and, naturally, we hear from Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, Hailee Steinfeld talking about their characters and heaping deserved praise on the rest of the cast. We also hear from Josh Brolin, Barry Pepper, and it's interesting to hear Hailee Steinfeld say she couldn't even recognize Pepper out of costume because he looks so different. This five-minute extra is your garden-variety cast featurette, with everyone talking about their experiences, the kind of featurette we've seen countless times before. Still, it's well worth watching.

Charles Portis - The Greatest Writer You've Never Heard Of... is next, which features a number of literary experts talking about author Charles Portis, who wrote the original True Grit novel in in 1967. We even hear from country singer Dwight Yoakham, filmmaker Nora Ephron, George Pelecanos and many others from the literary and film world. Portis actually started out as a journalist after World War II before turning to novels. He quit journalism cold turkey to write novels, the first of which is Norwood. His second novel was True Grit but his third novel didn't come out until several years later with The Dog Of The South. It's kind of odd to see such a wide array of people we have hear talking about Portis, but it's clear that they all are very passionate about their affection for Portis' work, even though he has only published 5 novels in nearly 50 years. Portis is still alive, but it seems that he is kind of a recluse, at least that is the impression I got from some of the interviewees. It's a very intriguing look at the author, who, honestly, I never knew much about other than he was the author of True Grit. This is by far the most extensive feature on this Blu-ray set, lasting just over 30 minutes, although I don't think it needs to be quite this long. Still, I'm glad they included this feature to shed some light on the author's life and work, and shows how beloved his novels really are. This panel also talks about the original movie, and how that may have overshadowed Portis' book, but also caused people to read the rest of his books. They also talk about his reclusive nature, where they say he isn't quite a J.D. Sallinger type, but he's just a guy who likes to be alone. We also see the man himself, Charles Portis, accepting an award from The Oxford American Magazine's Best of the South Gala in Little Rock, Arkansas, in 2010, which was a tiny speech, but still cool just to see him. All in all, this is a wonderful featurette that shines a well-deserved light on the author.

The last feature we get here is The Cinematography of True Grit, which features cast and crew members talking about one of the best DP's of all time, Roger Deakins. We also hear from Deakins himself discussing his techniques and thoughts behind some of the gorgeous, iconic shots of the movie. Sadly, this is only three minutes long and I'd honestly love to see more in this featurette. They should have shaved some of the time off the Portis featurette and used more in this Deakins featurette, because the man is an absolute genius and apparently a very humble genius. Although I wish there was more on this, it was a great way to end the features.

The film is presented in 1080p high-definition, enhanced for 16x9 widescreen televisions.

The sound is handled through the 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio format.

The front cover features the four main stars - Jeff Bridges, Hailee Steinfeld, Mat Damon, and Josh Brolin, along with the title card and a critic quote. The back has another shot of Bridges, Steinfeld and Damon along with more quotes, a brief synopsis, smaller pictures of the cast, a special features listing and the billing block and tech specs. Inside the packaging there are also instructions on how to use the Digital Copy.

True Grit has done something that no movie could do since Unforgiven: put the word Western at the forefront of the cinematic landscape. It's a bold, hilarious, dramatic and heartfelt mixture of awesomeness captured on celluloid which not only continues the Coen's tradition of excellence, but blazes a trail of greatness for future Westerns to follow.