True Grit

True Grit, directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, is an adaptation of Charles Portis' most famous novel which was published in 1968 with the same name.

The Coen's 2010 film sticks closer to the original storyline, by following 14 year old Mattie Ross and her efforts in hunting down her father's killer in order for justice to be served, than the 1969 screen version which starred John Wayne.

First time actress, Hailee Steinfeld plays Ross who is a strong-willed, well educated and determined young woman beyond her years.

The film is partially narrated by an older Ross who looks back at her adventure she set out on at a very young age.  Before setting off on her horse-back adventure through the American outback, Ross meets an unlikely father figure in Rooster Cogburn (Jeff Ridges) who leads Ross through tough terrane.

Cogburn, a drunken US Marshall, is an old-school Western character with a thick accent who has a harsh demeanour.  But when it comes to Ross and helping her on her trail to find the outlaw killer who shot her father, Cogburn becomes a protective companion for the young girl.

The US outback is a dangerous place for anyone, let alone a young teenager who's looking for her beloved father's murderer.  But with a hard-ass like Cogburn in her company, Ross has her back constantly covered from whatever surprises await for her in the countryside.

However, Cogburn and Ross weren't the only ones in pursuit of the murderer, Tom Chaney (Josh Brolin).  They were joined by a cocky Texas ranger called LaBoeuf, played by Matt Damon.  All three 'good guys' work together in tracking down the fearless outlaw in a traditional Western style storyline.

The film works all the typical genre conventions at every chance and could possibly be mistaken for being made in the days when the John Wayne Westerns were popular.  But the slow pace and basic storyline told through an overuse of conventions doesn't seem to work in today's modern world where films that break tradition and conventions get a positive reception.

It tended to drag with constant jumps to insignificant scenes.  There were an awful lot of fade outs from one scene to the next, and it became tiresome towards the end.  The only parts of the film which received a reaction from the audience were the slight attempts of humour and a gruesome scene where a shoot-out turns bad and leaves LaBoeuf grossly injured.

Of course there's a constant bangs from shotguns which kept the audience awake, but if it weren't for that I would say the majority of the cinema would have been catching a few hours of zees to pass the time.

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