The trailer for the Coen Brothers’ remake of True Grit has come out. The original True Grit won John Wayne his one and only Oscar, beating out Richard Burton in Anne of a Thousand Days. This remake stars Jeff Bridges, fresh from his Oscar win, in the John Wayne role, with Matt Damon as his side-burned and mustached sidekick. Now… don’t be alarmed, but when I first saw the trailer, I didn’t recognize Matt Damon, and I thought he was David Spade. For real.
Right? Josh Brolin looks deliciously dirty, of course. As for Bridges and Damon… well, okay. It’s interesting seeing Matt Damon do this kind of part, I guess. I always hoped that when Bridges and the Coen brothers reunited, they would do another oddball comedy, like The Big Lebowski. And Hailee Steinfeld is the girl/narrator. Is it just me, or is she totally miscast? Her voice has very modern inflections, like they dropped a mini-Ellen Page into a Western. I like Ellen Page, but she’s not the kind of actress who can do period convincingly, and neither is this little girl.
As for the plot – Gawker says it’s reminiscent of No Country for Old Men, but I’m getting an Unforgiven vibe. Remember that Clint Eastwood movie? Bridges is playing the Clint role and the little girl is playing the role of “the hookers.”
Okay. I’m done bitching.
I think it’s too early to tell if the girl is miscast or not, but what bothers me is she looks just like Shane on Weeds, like they put a wig with pigtails and a dress on him.
I think she’s just speaking with a sharp, clipped, efficient tone–which, to me, is exactly the sound of a determined girl who might set off to kill some dudes. I didn’t get a miscast vibe at all.
Please please more of my secret boyfriend Matt Damon! I don’t care about the david spade references if it gets me more Damon pics.
HGF? Please?
Tough slogging through the self-congratulatory list of Oscar-winners.
Broke the mood right away.
So, am I the only one who thinks David Spade is hot and Matt Damon is not?
I am soooo ready for this! I can smell the testosterone and horse sweat right now!
They re-made True Grit?!?!?
Well it is official, Hollywood is out of ideas. What is next? They will remake Gone with the Wind or Citizen Kane? What a bunch of lazy a$$ rip off artists.
DD – you are not alone! I have loved David Spade for years!
@Taylor B, I was thinking the same thing.
For me, the thing with facial hair on men is that you need to be able to grow it like a man.
And if can’t then you need to accept it and get a great fake mustache.
Natural blonde men tend to have questionable looking facial hair. It can be blonde, red or brown.
And sadly, Damon looks like a knee toucher with his mustache. He is just one of those men that look great clean shaved.
Obviously, Josh Brolin is doing it right. 🙂 He looks better with the facial hair. Looking all manly.
Josh Brolin looks absolutely perfect in the picture you have placed.
My dad is going to have a sh** fit when he hears about this.
@Samantha
EXACTLY my same thought process 🙂
Great cast + Coen Bros. = awesome remake.
It looks like it might be pretty good. My guys love Westerns, so we’ll probably see it. We went to see Wall St 2 over the weekend. God, it was horrible, trust me, wait for netflix if you need to see it. I don’t think it was the actors fault, the story just plain sucked and didn’t care for the direction.
This could be really good (or not). I think it will be good though, Matt & Jeff Bridges plus Josh have what it takes.
Though I am not usually a fan of remakes, I am happy to see that the Coen’s directed this. Love them.
NoNoNoNoNoNo…never!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
John Wayne and my first crush, Glen Campbell recast by these guys??????????
Saw it at Radio City Music Hall, NY,NY with my Daddy as a young girl. Can’t touch it.
Hush Taylor B., please don’t give them any ideas. It would kill me if they re-did GWTW using today’s CGI effects. Talk about destroying a classic.
She sounds like Kim Darby from the first one. Snotty Eastern 1800’s Teenager 😉
@TaylorB – normally I’m on the “Hollywood is out of ideas” bandwagon but as True Grit (and Gone with the Wind for that matter) is adapted from a novel in the first place, I don’t see the problem.
@taylorB did you hear they are re-releasing star wars and Titanic in 3D? *hurl*
If they are going to remake stuff, I wish it was old 30’s movies that aren’t legends (gwtw, casablanca etc) I mean, there’s a pretty solid stable of stuff out there that would be awesome if redone.
As usual, the Cohen Brothers can do no wrong with their music choices – the hairs on the back of my neck and arms stood up while I watched this. While I generally hate remakes, I dearly love both Jeff Bridges and the Cohen brothers and I will be seeing this.
#21 (I am sorry but I can’t read your name)
Adapted from a novel or not, one does not remake a John Wayne film… never mess with ‘The Duke’. Just my opinion. If you want to see True Grit, rent it on NetFlix, make some popcorn and nachos, crack a cold beer and enjoy.
beautiful song