The Coen Brothers have become as much of a household name as Clorox bleach. Their original stories and unique style have always pushed the boundaries of conventional film making. However, their latest collaboration "True Grit" is more of a tributary inflexion of the classic Western movie than an innovative original story. Although it does posses the same renowned ambiance of a typical Coen movie, it simply is not as enthralling as one would expect from their creative stock. It does contain the usual elements of un-usual characters who find themselves in raunchy predicaments, but fails to surprise in the manner that most of their prior films have done so. Save an impressive performance by newcomer Hailee Steinfeld, it simply is not as profound or staggering as one would expect from Joel and Ethan Coen. Nonetheless, it does capture a visual grander of the West that parallels such film greats as Martin Ritt's "Hud" and Ang Lee's "Brokeback Mountain". The movie was shot outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico and around the rural areas of Granger and Austin, Texas. Though there are some very bountiful scenes of sweeping canyons and spacious desert fields, there are just as many scenes that are harsh and threatening. Such superb cinematography is no surprise coming from eight-time Academy Award nominee Roger Deakins; he incorporates just enough subtleties in each scene to create a phantasmal mood for the film, despite an impoverished storyline.
"True Grit" just isn't quite as ground breaking as "No Country For Old Men" was. Joel and Ethan adapted the script from Charles Portis' novel of the same name and is the second screen adaptation of his book. The first was done in 1969 which was directed by Henry Hathaway and starred John Wayne in an Oscar-winning performance. Despite both movies having the same storyline, the two films are vastly different from one another. There is after all a forty year generational difference between them. The first version failed to convey the harsh, and often violent, reality of the times and seemingly excluded a lot the situational humor of the novel. Ethan attributes this to the fact that the book was narrated in the first person from the perspective of Mattie Ross, a teenage girl on a mission of revenge, disguised as justice. The Coen's touch here adds an eccentric comic demeanor that lacked in the original version. They directly used many of the humdinger lines of Portis' novel which clearly added to the poise and presence the characters.
Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie Ross
The film opens with the execution of Frank Ross by his hired hand Tom Chaney, played by Coen alum Josh Brolin, while the two are on an expedition to Fort Smith to buy some horses. Chaney robs Ross' corps of $150 and two gold pieces that he always carried for sentimental reasons, then flees into Indian Territory (present day Oklahoma). This incident is projected in an erie blue overtone that creates a somber tone and sets the mood for the entire film. We soon enter upon Ross' fourteen year old daughter Mattie (Steinfeld) who ventures up from their Arkansas farm, accompanied only by an indentured servant, to settle her father's affairs and ensure justice of his untimely murder. Young actress Hailee Steinfeld almost immediately steals the movie away from her more famous costars. Steinfeld conveys a superlative sense of retribution underlined by vengeance as Mattie Ross. There is a great scene between Mattie and a horse trader named Colonel Stonehill (Dakin Matthews) where she insistently collects on her late father's dealings. It is at this moment that the audience quickly realize that this little girl is no one to be trifled with. Steinfeld was discovered through an open casting call that was put out seeking someone between the ages of 12 and 17 who looked simple in demeanor but could convey "unusually steely nerves and a straightforward manner". Her performance is one of the few redeeming qualities of the film on the whole and merits high praise as one of the best supporting performances of the year.
Jeff Bridges as Rooster Cogburn
After some investigation, Mattie learns that Chaney has joined an outlaw gang led by the infamous "Lucky" Ned Pepper, portrayed by Barry Pepper who ironically has the same last name. In order to ensure that Chaney is arrested and tried for her father's murder, she unwittingly seeks the assistance of the toughest U.S. marshal in the district, Reuben J. “Rooster” Cogburn (Jeff Bridges). He, however, turns out to be a scrupulous drunk whose unruly practices are being questioned by authorities in court. Nonetheless, Mattie is "searching for a man of true grit" and Cogburn fit her ideals of just such a bounty hunter. This is Bridges' first role since he winning the Academy Award for Best Actor for playing a washed-up country music singer in Scott Cooper's "Crazy Heart". Similarly, western film icon John Wayne won his only Oscar for his turn as Rooster Cogburn in the original "True Grit". The part of Rooster Cogburn was quite a departure for Wayne, at the time, who was known for playing the straight-laced hero. But it still seemed like Wayne was playing Wayne. Such is not the case here with Bridges; it seems more like Bridges is playing Rooster. His interpretation of Rooster Cogburn is unique because he embraces more of the darker actions of this anti-hero character, which was precisely how Joel and Ethan depict him in their script.
Matt Damon as La Boeuf
Whilst waiting to hear whether or not Rooster accepts her commission, Mattie encounters upon a Texas ranger named La Boeuf (played by Matt Damon) who has already been tracking Chaney for the murder of a Texas state senator. Physically, he is very aloof, sporting a set of spurs that jingle louder than Santa's sleigh, and an overly grown mustache that practically turns him into a caricature. His introduction comes as a complete surprise to Mattie as she awakes from a bad dream to find him watching her sleep. Their initial impression of one another is not very high, particularly after Mattie receives a letter from Rooster that he has partnered with La Boeuf instead of her. Despite them trying to leave Mattie behind, she proves more tenacious and resourceful than they'd expected and eventually she becomes an accepted member of the posse. Damon's performance is decent enough and audiences will undoubtedly be drawn to the film because he is in it. Neither La Boeuf or Damon are hardly sidekick material. The wry ranger has issues and motives all of his own and his presence seemingly complicates matters more than it helps.
Josh Brolin as Tom Chaney
This unusual trio of bounty hunters begin to appreciate each other more and more, eventually developing a certain regard for one another. Particularly through their various encounters with villains Tom Chaney and Lucky Ned Pepper. Brolin is no stranger to gritty character roles, having previously portrayed the sinister Dr. William Block in Robert Rodriguez's "Grind House" as well as the malevolent city supervisor Dan White in Gus Van Sant's biopic "Milk". Although he doesn't get much screen time here, the significance of Chaney in the overall plot carries his presence throughout most every scene. Brolin is ruthless and barbarous as Chaney, and we have little empathy for him. Lucky, on the other hand, grants us slightly more compassion, despite being on the other side of the law. Barry Pepper is one of those actors whom, in my opinion, is vastly underrated. This is mainly because the roles he plays are not principal parts and he is often overshadowed by more renowned actors. Two such films that come to mind are "The Green Mile" and "Saving Private Ryan". Still, as small as his part may be here once again, he still leaves an impact as the gang leader with an unlikely sense of humanity.
Steinfeld with Barry Pepper as Lucky Ned Pepper
The character of Mattie is herself a portraiture of feminism during a such raw period in history when codes of honor governed society rather than abstract law. In film, women of that era are typically depicted as frail homemakers or immoral prostitutes. We rarely ever see a woman characterized as a cowboy on screen, let alone a female protagonist in a Western. "When you introduce women into that kind of world, something very interesting happens and you have an interesting dynamic straight away," states Emmy Award-winner Simon Moore who wrote the original screenplay for "The Quick and the Dead". Mattie's predicament is actually very similar to Moore's character The Lady (played by Sharon Stone in the film) who joins a dueling competition in order avenge her father's death at the hands of the self-proclaimed sheriff of the town Redemption. While Mattie certainly is no gunfighter herself, she realizes the importance of carrying a weapon of her own and the kind of power that it ensues. And like The Lady, Mattie is no conventional woman by any means. She is aggressive and rambunctious in her own right and governs herself in the same manner. Fourteen years old or not, for any woman living in the Old West this is profoundly prodigious. And although the apolitical Coens were not trying to foster a movie about feminism in any right, the implications behind the character of Mattie cannot be be ignored, whether intentional by the film makers or not.
Steinfeld and Damon
The Coen Brothers films have always demanded attention, but they did not receive real critical recognition until 1996 with "Fargo". And although they directed and produced that film separately, they wrote the screenplay collaboratively. Since then, they have worked on every film together as writers, producers, and directors jointly. People have often referred to Joel and Ethan Coen as “the bicephalous director” (the two-headed director). Many actors who have worked with the brothers have said that more often than not, the two have the same ideas and responses for various scenes and questions. Yet, their "two-headed" approach to "True Grit" might very well have been a deteriorating factor for the film on the whole. Though it is a more faithful adaptation than Henry Hathaway's initial version was in 1969, the movie itself brings little that hasn't been seen before from similar westerns or tales of vengeance.
Joel & Ethan Coen
"True Grit" seems to fulfill a more commercial compulsion than a creative one, which is not necessarily a criticism. Movies are after all a business and "if it doesn't make money, then it wasn't worth making." Although "No Country For Old Men" proved that the Coens could achieve both acclamation and financial success, it unfortunately might have been their fluke exception. Their last film "A Serious Man" brought in a mere $31 million and was essentially a box office failure, despite being highly praised by critics and honored with two Oscar nominations, including Best Picture. This seems to be the Coen Curse: if the movie is substantial and innovative without any big name actors attached then it is probably a fantastic movie, or if it carries a star studded cast and does well financially, then it is probably mediocre in comparison to their other works. So once again, we are upon a Coen Brothers film that does carry a few high profile names, yet lacks the overall creative spirit and imaginativeness that audiences have come to value them for.
Rating: ★ ★ ★ 1/2
Bottom Line: Not your quaint-essential Coen Brothers piece, but entertaining in its own right. Hailee Steinfeld's performance alone is worth seeing.
There are two groups of people who should go see this movie: 1. anyone who is Jewish and 2. anyone who knows someone who is Jewish. Writers/directors Joel and Ethan Coen have done it again with their latest parody on American-Jewish culture in the sixties. The public has come to know their style of film making to be intricately elaborate and situationally extremist, and A Serious Man is most certainly both. Personally, I wish I had gone to see this with one of my Jewish friends, but only so that I would have had an on-hand expert to immediately clue me in on some of the scenarios depicted in the film. There were several scenes where the audience bursted out into laughter without any real premise to do so; it dawned on me that these must have been some sort of Jewish inside jokes, if you will. Despite my lack of cognition, the movie was highly entertaining and not just in a Coen Brothers sort of way. We have seen this approach from them before in such films as Raising Arizona and Fargo that embrace a known ethnology that we may not all know personally, but certainly know of. This pre-establishes a level of endearance to audiences because most can certainly relate to the idea of what these characters are going through. So even if you're not of any kind of Jewish decent, the predicaments are so intriguing that it arouses a curiosity to want to know about being Jewish. Or at the very least, want to know about these characters. This is what makes this such a great film.
Joel and Ethan Coen on set
The opening scene is a sort of flashback to another time and probably another country, where two married Jewish peasants find themselves entertaining an alleged neighbor who has just aided the husband outside. The couple debate aimlessly (entirely in Yiddish) as to whether this guest is actually their rabbi neighbor or a demon in disguise. Because there is a severe snow storm, it is inevitable that they invite him in. Amidst their conversation with this rabbi/demon, the wife finds the courage to confront their visitor in the most unlikely of methods and he finally leaves their home. The scene ends violently but enigmatically with the line, "Good riddance to evil." This sets an unnerving tone for the rest of the film that bad things do happen to good people.
Michael Stuhlbarg as Larry Gopnick
The central character is a middle-aged physics professor named Larry Gopnick, played by Michael Stuhlbarg. Larry finds himself hurled into a series of events that have little to do with his own actions and everything to do with everyone else. Stuhlbarg is relatively unknown beyond Broadway circles, so audiences do not likely have a prerequisite for his performance. This was probably a wise decision for the Coens. Stuhlbarg creates a spectacle for a character that isn't very interesting at all, but that in itself is the premise for the entire movie. On the surface, Larry has the seemingly ideal suburban life: a steady job, a home, wife and family whom he loves. But his ignorance towards understanding the depths of the people in his life, erupt into a downward spiral of events that leave him questioning his very existence and his faith. It's not so much that audience's will sympathize with Larry Gopnick, as much as they will be dumbstruck by his passivity. The Coens brilliantly intertwine various predicaments with Larry to create the perfect plight of sins of omission.
Stuhlbarg with Sari Lennick as his wife Judith
Larry's woes seemingly begin when his wife Judith (Sari Lennick) initiates a conversation about them getting a divorce. He is in a state of complete shock by this and questions why and how it has come to this between them. Although she insists that it is not because of another man, she admits to being romantically "involved" with one of their recently widowed friends Sy Ableman, played by Fred Melamed. To Judith, Sy is essentially everything that Larry is not. In reality, Sy is overbearing, presumptuous, and self-indulgent. He takes it upon himself to console Larry about him loosing his wife to him and even goes as far as trying to nurture him by hugging him, despite the obvious awkwardness Larry has around him. This is just one example of many characters in this story who force themselves upon our protagonist, altering his life as he knows it.
Stuhlbarg with Richard Kind as Uncle Arthur
On Sy's recommendation, Judith ardently implores Larry to move out of their home. Being the push over that he is, Larry concedes to them and takes residence at a local motel called "The Jolly Roger". He also takes with him his unemployable brother Arthur (Richard Kind) who had been sleeping on their couch and imposing upon their hospitality. Although directly inconsequential to Larry's predicament, he obviously cares about his brother very much and is willing to endure the burden of looking after him despite Arthur's apathy and listless behavior. Kind is on point here with his portrayal of Larry's imposing mooch of a sibling who struggles with self-assurance and self-worth. There is a climactic scene where Arthur has an emotional break down, pleading to Larry his envy of his ideal life while his own is mediocre. The irony of this is bewildering because Larry believes the exact same thing about himself, and sees his life as anything but ideal. This is the kind of play upon situations that the Coen Brothers craft so extremely well.
Lennick with Jessica McManus as Sarah
Back in the late 80's, an offended moviegoer contacted the Coen Brothers about their film Raising Arizona. Apparently the use of so many Polish jokes and cultural parodies were so vexing, this man and his mother had abruptly left the theater in the middle of the film. He beseeched them to "Next time, why don't you make a film about Jews?" And although it is over twenty years later, this film is their response to that complaint. Ethan has dubbed this their "Jew film". As with most all of their movies, the Coen Brothers have already endured much negative criticism, this time from the Jewish Community. One reaction accused them of "turning on their own people". There are scenes that incorporate some very blatant caricatures on Jewish culture: kids falling asleep out of boredom in Hebrew school, rabbis who are depicted as puerile and incompetent, and a shallow daughter Sarah (Jessica McManus) who aims to have a nose job done. This is the same kind of generalized reactions that have come against Larry David citing his "offensive nature (to) his own self hatred and selfishness". David responded, "I hate myself, but it's not because I'm Jewish." Jewish viewers should not to take this film so personally. It is after all a movie; we are talking about a work of art, of fiction, not about some real-life "shandah for the goyim” like Bernie Madoff. Besides, the Coens present a disclaimer in the credits that "No Jews were hurt in the filming of this movie."
Aaron Wolff as Danny
While Joel and Ethan Coen did grow up in suburban Minnesota and their own father was a college professor, this is clearly not entirely an autobiography. The scene where Larry is bribed by a South Korean student (David Kang) who has failed his class and is at threat of losing his scholarship did actually happen to their father at the University of Minnesota. However, not quite as it is depicted in the film. He had given the money back and reported the student to the dean without any moral dilemma, unlike Larry. The Coen Brothers do implore a father-son theme throughout the story; we learn more and more about Larry's son Danny (Aaron Wolff) and how he inadvertently manages to put his father's life into perspective through his own naivete. Many have incorrectly assumed that A Serious Man is directly about their own lives simply because they are Jewish. While I believe it to be drawn from many of their own experiences (what good story isn't), it shouldn't be seen as their life story, as much as a story about life's predicaments.
Stuhlbarg with Fred Melamed as Sy Ableman
My old film professor Louis Giannetti would be proud to know that his theories on visual style and overall tone were among the first things I noticed about A Serious Man. The Coen Brothers have fostered an elaborate Mise-en-scène once again, while maintaining a pragmatic approach to their comic stylization. Much like O Brother, Where Art Thou?, they implore the use of popular period music to cleverly envoke a distinct mood in the film; here, they recurrently use the song "Somebody To Love" by Jefferson Airplane as if it is scripture--which may very well be to the Coen Brothers. And as always, their attention to detail both with the scripted dialogue and visuals on the screen are sharp and vigilant. The movie opens with a Rashi-attributed quote, "Receive with simplicity everything that happens to you," which epitomizes exactly how Larry Gopnick copes with life.
Rating: ★ ★ ★ ★
Bottom Line: A must see! Especially if you can appreciate the dark farcical style of the Coen Brothers.
Jefferson Air Plane: "Don't You Want Somebody to Love"
