Growing up at the tail end of the western movie era, there is something nostalgic for me about watching cowboys and indians or sheriffs and outlaws on the big screen. Some of my favorite television characters were Matt Dillon, Kitty and Festus. When "Silverado" came out in the '80s, I applauded the return of the western genre, but there have been very few westerns made since that time.
So when my husband suggested that we go see "True Grit" this afternoon, I wasn't opposed to the idea, even though "The King's Speech" was the next movie I planned to see. Somehow I missed the original "True Grit" and had the story line confused with "High Noon." I'm glad now that I did not know the story, because it was all fresh and unexpected.
It was one of the best movies I've ever seen. I was there, in that town on the edge of the frontier. I was 14-year-old Mattie, saddling up for an adventure, only mildly aware of the potential dangers ahead.
The story deals with vengeance, redemption, honor, and determination.
All of the acting was superb, especially Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn. Phenomenal! He was completely believable. Matt Damon made an exceptionally fine Texas Ranger. Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie Ross was great, too. All of the minor characters, most of them outlaws, were absoltuely convincing. The casting was perfect.
And the writing was outstanding -- never too much. Sometimes I expected more information, because movies these days tend to spoon feed the audience, but I was pleased that this script did not attempt to explain self-evident details.
I expected the movie to be violent, but it was even more violent than I thought it would be. I also expected it to be suspenseful, and it definitely was. What I did not expect was humor, but it was full of humor as well. Cogburn's ramblings and his frequent squabbles with LaBoeuf were priceless.
When I walked out of the movie theater, I wanted to walk right back in again.
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