TRUE GRIT
CAROLINE: True Grit is the new Western/revenge movie from the Coen brothers that’s getting a lot of critical buzz despite being snubbed by the Golden Globes.
RYAN: It was nominated for Best Picture at the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards though, and I think the Oscar voters love the Coens and it’ll get nominated for Best Picture there too.
CAROLINE: Most definitely, especially since there are 10 nominations in that category again this year.
RYAN: There are certain things we’ve come to expect from a Coen brothers movie, such as extreme and sudden violence, and this movie is no exception.
CAROLINE: For some reason, I always forget they like to do that, and I’m always shocked when something really bloody happens. I need to wise up; the violence in this movie totally took me by surprise. It doesn’t happen till about 45 minutes in, and I so wasn’t expecting it. Then I was grossed out and felt like an idiot for not remembering that the Coens always do this.
RYAN: I definitely liked the Coen brothers-ness of this movie more than I liked the Western aspect.
CAROLINE: Me too. Overall, this movie felt slow and long to me. It’s under two hours, but I think it could have been cut down a little. But this isn’t my favorite genre, so I’m sure I didn’t quite get the whole thing.
RYAN: Yeah, I don’t speak Western, so a lot of the dialogue went over my head.
CAROLINE: Totally! There were scenes in which I couldn’t understand what people were saying, including Jeff Bridges, who was great but semi-unintelligible.
RYAN: I liked Matt Damon too. The young actress who plays the girl seeking revenge is getting a lot of accolades for her performance, but I didn’t love her. She did this thing with her lips that irritated me.
CAROLINE: I didn’t notice that, but I wasn’t particularly blown away by her either. I couldn’t figure out why everyone in the movie had a Southern accent except for her.
RYAN: She’s no Chloë Moretz, that’s for sure.
CAROLINE: This movie is mainly a tale of revenge. The little girl reminded me of Inigo Montoya because all she talks about is avenging her father’s murder. “My name is Mattie Ross. You killed my father. Prepare to die.”
RYAN: [laughs’ Totally!
CAROLINE: There are a lot of things to like about this movie – the acting, the Coen brothers look and feel, the cinematography – but I have to admit, it bored me a little.
RYAN: I loved the color, the costumes and the score, and it’s very well directed, but I felt like the elements were better than the story. I wasn’t riveted.
CAROLINE: Me neither, and I’m not sure if it’s a result of my not loving this genre or not loving this movie specifically. It’s certainly well made, but I couldn’t relate to anything that was going on. Some of the scenes just went on too long, like the courtroom scene with Jeff Bridges in the beginning. It got more exciting at the end though.
RYAN: We watched this movie together on DVD at your apartment, but I suspect that if we’d seen it at a theater and were unable to chat with each other during it, I would have dozed a little.
— BOTTOM LINE —
CAROLINE: This movie is almost guaranteed a Best Picture Oscar nomination, though it’s nowhere near my favorite movie of the year. I think that’s mostly due to its genre though, and not that it’s a bad movie. I really enjoyed Jeff Bridges, but I didn’t love the little girl as much as the buzz would indicate that I should have. There are definitely things to admire about this movie, but it wasn’t really up my alley as a whole.
RYAN: I think my dad would really like this movie. I have enjoyed other recent Westerns, like 3:10 To Yuma, but that was much more exciting than this movie. I liked all the Coen brothers aspects of True Grit, but I was kinda bored watching it.
— RATING —
