By Jess Bonniwell

True Grit… well, let me begin by saying that,

THIS WAS THE BEST MOVIE OF 2010. PERIOD.

Ok, now that I’ve yelled my opinion in a proper manner we can get down to the brass tacks.

True Grit is a dramatic western by the brilliant Cohen brothers that is an adaption of Charles Portis’ 1968 novel of the same name, which was originally done in 1969 starring John Wayne. This oldie is what most people know the movie as, which is why many called the new movie a “remake”. Actually, the new True Grit stays closer to the events of the book itself than its predecessor. It’s certainly gives me a warm feeling to see the Cohen’s make up for there mistake with “Burn After Reading”, which they presented in 2008. I mean, these are the two that gave us “O Brother Where Art thou?”(a favorite of mine) back in 2000. Lets just say Burn After Reading didn’t get the kind of feedback they were hoping for. To be fair I must make mention of the brothers 2009 bleak comedy “A Serious Man” which was nominated for The BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay and received very positive ratings upon it’s release (my personal opinion on that one? Meh. Minimum magnificence). True Grit however, reminds us of what the Cohens can give to the world: the pure and holy pleasure that only comes from a well told story.

Here’s the breakdown:

The Good: ACTING. It was the single best aspect of the film. It carried it out of the western genre as we know it into a story where you actually feel you can see into the characters, because they actually have depth. Another thing that blew my mind was something simple really: the dialogue. It was not; I repeat not, western slang (thus separating it from every John Wayne film in existence).  Oh there was definitely a couple “ya’lls” and a few “this here’s”, but the speech in general was more old world. The kind of speak that would actually be used in that period of time (thus separating it from every John Wayne film… Oh wait, I already said that, I’m sorry).

The Bad: Ah gee… can I really think of any part of the movie that was bad?

Hmmm… nope. Sorry. Can’t really think anything.  Uh… Matt Damon played an excellent peacock… but that’s not really a bad thing…

The Bottom Line: See this movie. You will never look at westerns the same way again. Between the amazing acting and the sparse but powerful action, this package wraps up into a beautiful gift from the Cohen brothers.