True Grit
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Jawa Ex Machina
Veteran
I saw it this weekend. Loved everything about it, unlike the last two Coen movies.
Paul Hudson
Vacuum Tube Member
Loved the original when I was a kid. I can't wait to see the Coen Brothers take on it.
dalethompson
Well-known member
Love all the Coen Brothers movies but judging from their past track record, every 3rd or 4th movie they make ends up being amazing. Since No Country for Old Men was amazing, we got Burn After Reading and A Serious Man, good movies but certainly not their best.
I'm glad the Coen Brothers based their movie on the book rather than try to remake or add on to the original.
I'm glad the Coen Brothers based their movie on the book rather than try to remake or add on to the original.
Blade Borge
Well-known member
It was pretty cool, not as enthralling as I expected. I think it's noble they kept the dialogue true to the book, but for me it just seemed sort of stiff, unnatural.
Brandon Rice
Distributed Producer
loved it
Eric Boellner
Well-known member
I saw the film yesterday in theaters and then rented the original from Redbox and watched it today.
What's funny is that at least 25-35% of the dialogue is exactly the same in the new movie as in the old. Line for line, word for word. Even the inflections are matched.
Personally, I liked Matt Damon faaaar better than Glen Campbell, and I liked Josh Brolin a lot better as Tom Chaney. Jeff Bridges vs. John Wayne.... I don't know. It was close, but I think the Duke came out on top here. Also, I thought Hailee Steinfeld did a better job than Kim Darby, though I think Darby brought a bit more likable spunk to the role.
All-around, both films are pretty close to equal for me.
Jawa Ex Machina
Veteran
I kinda semi-agree with this, although I thought Rooster had the arc and not the girl.
He goes from being grumpy killer to saving the girl's life and apparently changing his own life afterwards. She goes from wanting to kill Chaney to killing Chaney to having killed Chaney.
But the film worked for me, it's one of my favorites this year.
That's how I felt when I started reading No Country for Old Men after having seen the film. Felt pointless.
I agree with Jawa regarding Rooster's being the significant character arc of the film. In fact, I may need to watch again but I'm uncertain what arc Mattie follows in terms of character or if she particularly follows one at all. She seems the same self-possessed steely self-reliant individual in her last scene as in her first.
Mark Harris
Pain in the ass
This actually left me with a "meh" feeling. Really seemed to lack a directorial voice. Shots were all kind of run of the mill, and non-distinct. Even No Country used the camera to give you a real feel for Texas. This was just...generic Western stuff.
Performances good, but writing...meh. Maybe the book's just not that good. The original movie was pretty hammy stuff, and certainly not anywhere near the best of Wayne's work. I dunno, just overall...meh. I don't really care about arcs and **** anymore, as long as the story's good and sucks me in. This one just never really did. Liked Matt Damon in it a lot though. I like him as he ages and gains some gravity. And I liked the girl. All of the acting was good.
Performances good, but writing...meh. Maybe the book's just not that good. The original movie was pretty hammy stuff, and certainly not anywhere near the best of Wayne's work. I dunno, just overall...meh. I don't really care about arcs and **** anymore, as long as the story's good and sucks me in. This one just never really did. Liked Matt Damon in it a lot though. I like him as he ages and gains some gravity. And I liked the girl. All of the acting was good.
Luis Caffesse
Admin
I think I enjoyed it quit a bit more than you did - but I tend to agree with the above.
What I've always liked about the Coens is that their films are all very much rooted in place - many directors always talk about the 'location being a character' - but they are among the few that generally pull that off. But I didn't get any of that feeling from this film. Like you said - it felt like generic western stuff.
That said - it was still a better film than most people's best efforts.
But on the Coen scale, I think it's only what I expect to get from them...which is to say it was solid, enjoyable and well done...but not particularly remarkable.
Mark Harris
Pain in the ass
Yeah, and believe it or not, having grown up in So Cal, Big Lebowski really nails it. Tone, feel, locations.
Ordinarily I would agree with you, but when I stand this up against another of their out and out genre movies - Miller's Crossing, there's absolutely no comparison. Iconic scenes and shots, great characters and situations throughout. Nail-biter scenes. This one felt really phoned in.
No Country made a lot of people mad with the narrative messing about, but man, the gas station scene alone is worth the $10 admission. There was nothing even close to that level of sheer specific razor-sharp concentration in this movie.
Nektonic
Veteran
I enjoyed True Grit, but not as much as I wanted to. The things that struck me as its strong points were: the characters, acting, detail, cinematography, dialogue, and sound. I thought the plot was fine, just nothing mind blowing. I also didn't really care for the epilogue. They could have ended it a bit more, I don't know... differently. I don't have an alternative off the top of my head.
It doesn't beat any of my top Coen Bros. movies (Raising Arizona, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, and Oh Brother Where Art Thou?).
Overall though, I liked the film. It just seems a bit over-hyped compared to some of the other good or great films that were released this year (at least by the critics).
It doesn't beat any of my top Coen Bros. movies (Raising Arizona, Fargo, The Big Lebowski, and Oh Brother Where Art Thou?).
Overall though, I liked the film. It just seems a bit over-hyped compared to some of the other good or great films that were released this year (at least by the critics).
kimko
Veteran
yeah what Mark said.....there were no characters like the old movie except MD who was by far better than GC, really good actors but "eh" no character, Robert Duvall sound alike but not Duvall(Pepper)... Brolin was funny but lacked evil like the original i forgot his name. and for me i would have liked the the last fight scene in the meadows more detailed like "Long Riders" movie where they get ambushed and it's in slow mo. the ending well, sheepsh@# wtf! that was lame!
Chris Adler
Veteran
Did it bother you? After the movie I realized there really wasn't arc from any of the characters, but who cares! It was a great and entertaining journey and I was satisfied at the end. I couldn't care less if the girl had changed or not.
How do you see her arcing? I didn't really recognize any change from start to finish.
vcassel
Veteran
Lacked a true arch?! Rooster arched more than Mattie?! I say thee nay!
***SPOILERS***
When Mattie shoots and kills Chaney at the climax is when her arch really gets going, and it is indeed the strongest of the film. I'll explain:
There is no reward without sacrifice, and when she collects on her revenge she immediately falls backward into the viper's lair of what revenge really means. The snake represents the loss of innocence, as usual, and her arm is given up as a consequence. Rooster takes the symbolic venom from her and into himself, and takes her off on her horse toward the Doctor. Along the way she sees the ground littered with the bodies of Lucky Ned's men. The look on her face is all we need, "was this all worth it?" Later, Rooster kills her horse in the symbolic furthering of her loss of innocence, youthful adventure, and horrifying realization of what vengeance and violence costs. It is indeed the strongest arch of the film.
Rooster's arch is brilliantly implied, but only implied nonetheless. It is assumed that this particular adventure with this girl was so effecting on him that he left bounty hunting for a different life. He too lost the bumbling immaturity and 'innocence' of being a tracker. He never felt he could face Mattie again except for at the end of his life, but what Mattie is left with is the unresolved and its lingering feelings. And thus the moral premise in my eyes: Revenge leads to greater loss or Vengeance leaves its seeker unsatiated. The subject of underlying premise of this film is Mattie Ross because she actively pushes everyone with her quest for vengeance and she is the one who symbolically loses the most by film's end.
***END SPOILERS***
***SPOILERS***
When Mattie shoots and kills Chaney at the climax is when her arch really gets going, and it is indeed the strongest of the film. I'll explain:
There is no reward without sacrifice, and when she collects on her revenge she immediately falls backward into the viper's lair of what revenge really means. The snake represents the loss of innocence, as usual, and her arm is given up as a consequence. Rooster takes the symbolic venom from her and into himself, and takes her off on her horse toward the Doctor. Along the way she sees the ground littered with the bodies of Lucky Ned's men. The look on her face is all we need, "was this all worth it?" Later, Rooster kills her horse in the symbolic furthering of her loss of innocence, youthful adventure, and horrifying realization of what vengeance and violence costs. It is indeed the strongest arch of the film.
Rooster's arch is brilliantly implied, but only implied nonetheless. It is assumed that this particular adventure with this girl was so effecting on him that he left bounty hunting for a different life. He too lost the bumbling immaturity and 'innocence' of being a tracker. He never felt he could face Mattie again except for at the end of his life, but what Mattie is left with is the unresolved and its lingering feelings. And thus the moral premise in my eyes: Revenge leads to greater loss or Vengeance leaves its seeker unsatiated. The subject of underlying premise of this film is Mattie Ross because she actively pushes everyone with her quest for vengeance and she is the one who symbolically loses the most by film's end.
***END SPOILERS***