93, True Grit

I have never been a Western kind of movie buff.  I know they have been around since cinema pretty much began and drew some of the biggest audiences but recently its just not been my bag.  I might be wrong here but I think the last Western to hit the big screen was the "3.10 to Yuma" but alas I missed it.  The last one I saw and loved was Tombstone with Kurt Russell and since then either they have not been around or I have just avoided them.

So, how was True Grit going to be, well for a remake of a supposed John Wayne classic I was utterly blown away from start to finish!!

This is a Cohen brothers Movie and captures all of the essence of an old school Western.  There are no signals, (barring the modern cast etc) that this film is not from the classic age.  The un-educated cowboys who are constantly put in their place by an extremely well spoke 14 year old girl who wants to track down her fathers killer.

A Nice and simple plot, a great cast and some on-liners that make you chuckle along merrily that are mixed in with a close up "shooting in the face" and some hacked off fingers.

You have cowboy violence and a jovial road trip all in one place and even for those of you who, like me normally avoided Rawhide as a kid you should be easily impressed with this one.

Jeff Bridges is brilliant - drunkard, eye-patched and moody he speaks in an almost confusing tone with Matt Damon being about as different as you will ever see him.  Josh Brolin is only really in it for a short while towards the end but in this its the performance of Hailee Steinfeld that steals the show.

She is brilliant - holding her own easily against the big names that this movie attracted and doing it with a touch of class.  Hats off to you Steinfeld.  Well played.

This does not necessarily mean I am going to go out and buy as many Westerns on DVD as I can find with a new love of the genre but if another one comes out I certainly wont be too hasty to dismiss it as previously I would have.  An epic.........No, But a good cowboy movie, Yes.

And a far better title than the soon to be released Cowboy's & Aliens!!

Very much approved.

See this if.................................................you ever wanted to be a Cowboy (or Cowgirl!!)