In my quest to see all the Best Picture Academy Award nominated films prior to the big event (all baring The Kids Are Alright as it is not released in the UK for sometime) I took myself off to see the latest offering from the brilliant Joel and Ethan Coen.
True Grit sparkles with the same dark humour that befalls much of the Coen's work and this is a modern classic re-telling of the Charles Portis novel.
Jeff Bridges is, as always, effortlessly cool and brilliantly funny in his lead role as the drunk anti-hero Rooster Cogburn. Newcomer Hailee Steinfeld steals the show as the young Mattie Ross and is the heartbeat of the movie every bit deserving of her Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
Matt Damon and Josh Brolin suffer slightly from over-stepping the tightrope the Coen's love their characters to walk and feel somewhat cartoonish whilst Barry Pepper offers up a great performance as the dark Lucky Ned Pepper.
The Coen's as ever pack a lot into a relatively short space of time and the pace seems to stem some of the emotional depth to the film, especially in the latter stages when Cogburn seeks retribution for the kidnapping of the young miss Ross.
That said, the film is hugely satisfying and beautifully realised and for me its flaws are excusable as with all of the Coen Brothers work there is more heart and substance to this, than the vast majority of films you will see this year.
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