I’m not sure I entirely see the point in the remaking of a film if all you are going to do is remake it. Just as the first one was, but with different actors. Perhaps if the original was diabolical and really warranted a more professional effort, then it might be excusable, but that cannot be said to be the case here. The ‘69 True Grit directed by Henry Hathaway and starring big John Wayne himself is an excellent picture, the only low-point perhaps being the irritating interpretation of Mattie Ross by Kim Darby (who? Exactly. She went on to star in star in Teen Wolf Too) who was far too annoying and deserved to be left in the snake pit. Hailee Steinfeld as the same character in the Coen Brother’s vision is superb, the fact that she is headstrong and exasperating is intentional – and she certainly is both. But why remake a perfectly good film? The Coen brothers are better than this. If they want to make a Western, then by all means, make a Western – but why not be ‘Coen Brothersy’ about it and reinvent the western genre or parody it or have some fun with it at least? The only significant differences between this and the original were that the Coens shot a few scenes at night and changed the location to one more befitting the source material. Oh and they stuck in a man who wears a bear hat. Wow, big difference. I just don’t see what all the awards hype is about - 10 Oscar noms, seriously?! - and am so thankful that it didn’t win anything. I am sure that much of its success is simply due to it having been made by the Coen Brothers. Had the exact same film been made by anybody else, it would not have had half the recognition, but “ooh, it is the Coens, it must be good’. Not so.
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