Image Credit: Lorey SebastianEarlier this week I had the opportunity to see Joel and Ethan Coen’s eagerly awaited adaptation of True Grit, the last assumed major Oscar contender of the year. I’ll leave it to my esteemed colleague Lisa Schwarzbaum to provide a proper review in the coming days, but I’d say the Coen brothers have a second consecutive Best Picture nominee on their hands. The film is beautifully shot and—no surprise considering the cast—very well acted. It’s a hoot to see Jeff Bridges, Matt Damon, and a host of fascinating looking character actors act with their jowls and mutton chops amidst the Coens’ majestically shot 19th Century landscape.
So in which categories is True Grit most likely to be a major contender? I’d call it a sure thing for a Best Picture nod given that race’s 10 slots. And the Coens could certainly make it into the director and adapted screenplay hunts as well. As for the cast, Matt Damon makes the most of his one-liners but simply isn’t in the film enough to be a serious supporting actor contender. Ditto Josh Brolin, who doesn’t even appear until the last act. Jeff Bridges could end up scoring a Best Actor nomination thanks to his droll performance as marshal Rooster Cogburn, but I wouldn’t say Colin Firth needs to worry about losing to him again this year. In my mind the strongest acting candidate from the film is newcomer Hailee Steinfeld, who knocks her large supporting role out of the park, exuding precociousness and confidence from her introductory scene. She had me smiling nearly the entire film and I’d imagine most Academy members will have the same reaction.
Dave Karger is the BEST!
I trust his movie geekness over most predictors.
The previews look really good! Can’t wait to see it! My favorite cowboy flick is “Tombstone”, this movie may top that!
I hate to be a movie snob, but you need to check out more westerns… Unforgiven, Once Upon a Time In the West, The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, The Searchers.
I don’t think you’re a movie snob, just that you’re wrong. I’ve seen all of the (admittedly great) westerns you listed, but Tombstone is quite simply the Casablanca of westerns. No other western has such delicious dialogue or such a collection of skilled character actors.
That’s not even an argument… “you need to check out more westerns”…I bet you don’t even have seen the movie, wonderful acting and directed.
Once upon….in the West and All of Clint Eastwood….were great cowboy westerns and the match up with Dean Martin and John Wayne was great.
Ditto.. i know other Westerns are probably considered technically better films, but tombstone remains my personal favorite as well.. Val kilmer. enough said.
This is the one film that I’m looking forward to more than any other. This is going to be a great movie.
And I was remiss…..TOMBSTONE …IS AN ALL TIME GREAT THAT WILL REMAIN A CLASSIC WHEN MY SON TURNS MY AGE!!!!! THANKS KILMER AND RUSSELL.
I apologize for offending Lisa but these type of movies are not for her to review. Lisa should stick to reviewing Twilight, Rom-Coms and Disney movies.
Leave the grown-up movies to the grown-ups.
Between this and Tron Legacy, Jeff Bridges is looking to have one heck of a December! Good luck, Dude.
Excited to see the movie. I’m sure Hailee is as amazing as you say. But, if acting awards are supposed to just be about acting performance, then there’s already a 13 year old girl who’s given two award worthy, extreamly differing, performances: Chloe Moretz. She won’t be nominated for anything, so it just seems unfair or wrong that Hailee would instead, pitting the two under the assumption “if you’re going to pick one 13 year old girl to honor for her acting this year, who should it be.”
Good stuff Karger… although, the comment about Brolin was a little spoilerish for those of us that haven’t seen the original.
I am looking forward to this, but no way will he outdo The Duke from the original…”Mighty bold talk for a one-eyed fat man!….fill your hands, you SOB!”
According to most reviews, he sure as hell DOES outdo “The Duke” from the original.
Some classics should never be touched!!! This is one of them.
Aw come on CJ. There’s nothing wrong with taking a classic and making it grittier and putting your own style on it. If they added a bunch of stupid action scenes and tony scott editing or straight up copied each and every scene, I would agree with you. You think Shakespeare’s plays haven’t been redone a 1,000 times?
Oh come on! No movie that had Glen Campbell’s non acting and Kim Darby annoying up the screen could be considered a classic. Yes, Wayne was great as Rooster but it was not so different than every other cowboy he played.
John Wayne in McClintock and all of the movies with Dean Martin were they were partnered together were great…laughs, fighting, shooting and rebelrousing….those were the cowboy movies by Wayne that I liked. Ok…and The Green Beret…I’m military also. (smile)
I’m looking forward to this one too. By the way, Judy Dench won her Oscar for her performance in Shakespeare in Love, appearing on screen for approximately eight-minutes. Just because a performance is short, doesn’t mean it can’t win an Oscar.
And Beatrice Straight in Network was only on for five minutes and 40 seconds.
Not to mention Anthony Hopkins onscreen for something like 19 minutes as Hannibel Lecter and winning Best Actor
“Esteemed colleague Lisa Schwarzbaum”? You gotta be kidding me. She has no credibility anymore as far as I’m concerned. You are being way, way too kind.
The “Duke” abides!
I have been a collector of anything Duke since I could turn the channel on a television. The duke actually wone his only Academy Award as cranky old Rooster Cockburn. His acting in it made the movie as Darby was virtually unheard of and Campbell was a singer crossing over! Tombstone was great I have all these on Collectors Editions DVDS but you’ll never find another like “The Searchers”. John Wayne played awsome in both. Check out Outlaw Josey Wales with Clint and the list goes on.
Hell Pilgrims I’m just glad to see a new Western in a theatre! Not often we get to see one on the big screen like the golden era of movies! There are lots I’d like to see redone with todays stars! Bridges takes a big chance filling John Waynes boots but then he is also a great actor!
Hey! Your article does not tell me what I really want to know: is this the year Roger Deakins, Carter Burwell, and the enigmatic Roderick Jaynes break through to Oscar glory?