Movie Review: True Grit - Grits aren't for Everyone

So me and the fellers took a trip last night to go see True Grit.  It was a tough call because we were also thinking about seeing The Fighter or Tron.  Needless to say, I do not regret our decision, and we will probably see the other films soon anyway.  The put it simply, True Grit is a great film.  I will admit it wasn't what I expected when I walked into the theater.  But this remake of the old John Wayne classic was able to hold its own in 2011.  See why I give this movie two grits up, after the jump.

I'll tell you right now if your looking for a crazy action-packed gun-slinging western, this movie won't do it for you.  That's actually what I was expecting, especially from the Coen brothers.  I am a huge fan of the Coen brothers, and I really enjoyed No Country for Old Men.  I figured True Grit would be something like that, however I was wrong.  Now its not that True Grit isn't a great western.  Inherently it must be, because it is a remake of a classic western.  As a drama/western/action movie it does very well.  If you want to judge it based on how much action is involved you might give it a low grade.  There is action in the movie, just not that much.  But I can assure you that the action scenes that are in the film are great and exciting, especially the last gunfight in the movie.  

One issue that action lovers might not like is that the film moves along rather slowly.  The first 40 minutes of the movie follows a young girl who is trying to avenge the death of her father by hiring a Marshall to hunt and capture her father's killer.  The girl is actually the protagonist if the story, and she travels with a Marshall(Jeff Bridges) and and federal officer(Matt Damon) to track down the murderer(Josh Brolin).

Hailee Steinfeld, the actress who played the girl played one of the best parts in the film.  Steinfeld teamed up with Bridges and Damon to form an unlikely trio that was often comedic at times. One of the best lines of the movie was, "I'll call him little blackie."  This was in reference to the name of the pony not the little black boy in the scene.    The movie did provide a few laughs throughout, but at its heart it was clearly a western drama.  

In my eyes the movie succeeded in its purpose.  Its not what I had expected, and it probably won't be what you expected.  But after reading this you'll be expecting it, so you might end up liking it more than I did.  Now this is my first movie review and I haven't settled on a system for grading movies.  My original plan was to have a see it or not system.  I could rate it out of 5 or out of 10, but I feel that its too subjective.  I mean its all subjective because no matter what I say its ultimately my opinion.  But I feel its subjective in the sense that depending on how I feel when I am writing or rating something that I might not add or take a away a point for no reason.  I like to keep things simple, so I think this two outcome system will work best for me, and hopefully for you as well.  So let me wrap this up.

As I said before this movie isn't an action packed adventure, its more of a dramatic western.  As long as you go into the theater knowing that, you can truly appreciate the film.  If you don't think a dramatic western can keep your attention for two hours then this movie isn't for you.  Just like eating grits is an acquired taste so is this film.  Grits aren't for everyone, and neither is True Grit.  However, I believe this movie is a good one that most can appreciate.  Verdict: See it