True Grit (2010)

 

True Grit (2010)

“The wicked fee when none pursueth”
-Proverbs 28:1

“I was just 14 years of age when a coward by the name of Tom Cheney shot my father down.”

“He could have walked his horse, for not a soul in that city could be bothered to give chase… No doubt Cheney fancied himself scot-free but he was wrong. You must pay for everything in this world one way an’ another. There is nothing free except the grace of God.”

-True Grit (2010)

It is remarkable how much you forget as you grow old, as you begin to see the world in a different light. It seems as if we lose the ability to remember who we were and who we wanted to be. The story of Mattie Ross and a journey of revenge is a heart wrenching, yet beautifully exuberant immersion into pain and drive of loss. True Grit 2010 in essence, is childhood in microcosm with all its joys and sorrows intact. It is a tale of vengeance for sure, though that vengeance is as much a stand-in for the encroachment of adulthood, as it is a reminder of the naivety of youth. I use "youth" here as a call to Mattie's enthusiasm for justice, not as a dismissal of it. Even though True Grit is a story of revenge, it is revenge housed in the most enthusiastic of old Western adventures. An adventure that brings to light childhood in the most exuberant of ways.
True Grit then, is not a glorification of vengeance in any real sense. Though it is a marker of cinema in all its aspects. From the enchanting power of the best Western epics to the sobering chill of modern character dramas, it is filmmaking at its most balanced and rich. Being an exemplar of opposites that wonderfully illustrates the loss of innocence, as well as the joyful passions of youth. True Grit 2010 is almost literally an enthralling religious hymn to the Western genre at large. This adaptation of Charles Portis's novel eloquently reveals what we hope revenge will bring us. Though, as with most endeavors in life, our hopes and perceptions do not always form into what we want them to. The realities of life always seem to get in the way.
That though is why the film is so enthrallingly effective in its approach to this Western coming-of-age tale. Mattie Ross's and Rooster Cogburn's journey of revenge is the dichotomy of youth and reality brought to a stirringly, thought-provoking conclusion. A conclusion well worth your discovery. Writer directors Joel and Ethan Coen along with their team engagingly add to the filmic True Grit conversation. Asking us the probing, and possibly sobering question. What are the abiding consequences of True Grit?...

Rated PG-13 for some intense sequences of western violence including disturbing images

I found True Grit 2010 to be deeply entertaining, visually enthralling and immensely thought-provoking. I hope in some way you do too

True Grit 2010 can be purchased on any digital video streaming service. It is also available physically on DVD and Blu-ray disc.