Too true:

By Christopher P. Jacobs
Staff Writer

Hollywood has always loved remakes, whether routine genre and program pictures or well-loved classics. Most often the later versions are simply retreads trying to cash in on a proven property. Sometimes they’re simply updates designed for a modern audience. Other times they’re reverent variations exploiting modern technology for more spectacular thrills while attempting to remain true to the spirit of the original. Sometimes they’re complete re-imaginings, presenting a different director’s spin and socio-political agenda on familiar (and popular) material. They can be a combination of two or more, perhaps all of the above. And once in a while they get it right and it’s difficult to decide on a favorite version.

The Coen brothers’ 2010 remake of the classic 1969 “True Grit” is in this latter category, now up for ten Oscars including five of the major awards. It is a worthy new screen version of the popular Charles Portis novel about a strong-willed 14-year-old girl who hires a crusty old alcoholic marshal to help her find and bring to justice the man who killed her father. Each of the two films has its own unique strengths, and each has some differences that may sway viewers to prefer one over the other, but both stand as fine examples of the classic movie western and coming-of-age story.

Like most Coen brothers films, their version of “True Grit” has a ominous underlying theme of relentless fate, with a number of quirky, eccentric characters and moments of dark humor, all played out by a memorable cast. In the case of “True Grit,” however, the Coens’ script is quite faithful to the 1969 film and brings in a number of elements closer to the original novel, including its somewhat darker ending and different fates for certain characters. Roger Deakins’ moody cinematography and Carter Burwell’s understated, folk-hymn laden score reinforce the Coens’ approach.

The dialogue is often verbatim what was in the John Wayne version, whose script by Marguerite Roberts lifted most of its dialogue directly from the novel. The characters’ careful, elegant prose has an almost Dickensian 19th-century flavor unusual for any film, and may well be one of the elements that attracted the Coen brothers to the project in the first place. That dialogue helps define the relationship between Mattie Ross and Rooster Cogburn in the book and both films. It is just as expertly exchanged between Jeff Bridges and newcomer Hailee Steinfeld as it was between John Wayne and Kim Darby.

The acting is superb all around in the Coens’ film, with Bridges at least as good if not better than he was in “Crazy Heart,” fully able to make the iconic John Wayne role his own. Steinfeld is an amazing discovery, just as strong as Kim Darby was and actually 14 years old (looking closer to 12), whereas Darby was 21 playing 14 and looking more like 15 or 16. This difference permitted a certain sexual tension in the 1969 film that is not really explored in the 2010 version, partly due to Matt Damon’s rougher-edged interpretation of the Texas Ranger character LaBoeuf. Damon is a drastic improvement over Glenn Campbell’s 1960s teen idol version, delivering what may be his best performance to date. He certainly shows more depth than his kooky turn in “The Informant!” or the overly-earnest Bourne characterizations.

The 2010 “True Grit” may be the Coen brothers’ most audience-friendly film to date, retaining their own quirky personality while simultaneously creating a respectful homage to the original family classic and an effective screen adaptation of the novel. Their film opened in theatres a few days before Christmas, and (not coincidentally) the week before that Paramount released the 1969 version of “True Grit” to Blu-ray, so audiences can easily compare both for themselves.

Shot in 1968, “True Grit” was veteran director Henry Hathaway’s last major film. It was also the only film to win an Oscar for star John Wayne, playing a character created by the original novelist with Wayne in mind. This version is a beautifully mounted western, with gorgeous Colorado scenery expertly composed by cinematographer Lucien Ballard (the Coens shot in New Mexico and Texas, but the original story is set in Arkansas). There’s a lush old-fashioned score by Elmer Bernstein. It’s also packed with memorable character actors, including Robert Duvall, Dennis Hopper, Strother Martin, Jeff Corey, and Hank Worden.

Released the same year as Sam Peckinpah’s “The Wild Bunch,” Hathaway’s “True Grit” is very much a transitional film, one of the last old-style Hollywood westerns but at the same time exemplifying the new trend in westerns. Aging western legend John Wayne is in top form, yet the central character is an independent and indefatigable teenage girl, both of whom must deal with a hot-shot young ranger. We can see the film as a metaphor for the woman’s role in taming the lawless frontier as well as the changes going on in 1960s society, including modernization, women’s rights, civil rights and generation gaps. It remains a good film today, but although Glenn Campbell is adequate as Ranger LaBoeuf, he seems out of place among the much stronger rest of the cast. Also, a number of interior scenes seem a bit overlit in the 1960s style, clashing with the more natural lighting in others and in most of the outdoor scenes (many more of which are in bright daylight than the remake’s frequent nighttime settings of the same scenes).

Paramount’s Blu-ray sports a fine high-definition transfer of the image, a pleasing 5.1 lossless stereo remix of the soundtrack as well as the original mono, a very good audio commentary, and four fairly interesting but brief and standard-definition featurettes. There’s also the original trailer in hi-def.

“TRUE GRIT” (1969) on Blu-ray – Movie: B+ / Video: A / Audio: A- / Extras: B+