Modest Conquest

True Grit Experiment




After missing my opportunity to watch The Coen Brothers' latest rendition of True Grit in the theater, I decided to learn a little more about the movie to prepare for when I did end up seeing it. I love westerns and I enjoyed the original movie but had not seen it for somewhere around 10 years, so it wasn't like I remembered a whole lot. While searching around the internet I read somewhere that the Coen Brothers decided to follow the book more than the John Wayne classic from back in the day and so I immediately decided to order the book. I read it and loved it and just watched the movie last week to compare the two. It was a grand experience. I recommend people try it out if they haven't seen it yet, or even if they have.

The book is a quick read and is really quite enjoyable. It was neat to check out the similarities. My imagination matched up incredibly well to the movie, even down to a few specifics like the set up of the shanty cabin one of the major gun fights happen in and even the meadow where the final showdown happens. The dialogue in the movie was great as well. Rooster Cogburn was portrayed with brilliance by Jeff Bridges. I wasn't even that much of a Jeff Bridges fan before the movie, but now I am. His performance was that good. Hailee Steinfield needs to be recognized for her role as Mattie Ross. She nailed it with perfection in my opinion.

The highlight of the movie for me was the inclusion of a character that completely boggled my mind. It seriously left me wanting a movie that told the story of the man we came to know simply as Forrester. Perhaps you know him as Bear man. His performance was unreal. I included a few pictures I poached from the internet so you can get the idea of how incredible this guy is. He spoke as if he had been living in the Indian Territory in which he was found for over a decade without coming across another person of his race until Rooster and Mattie found him after he made a rather unusual transaction. He spoke with inflections that could be traced to the way a Native American would sound who spoke with broken english. You could tell that he probably only had contact with Indians while he trapped and hunted in the territory. He also had a spooky drawl that when coupled with his austere demeanor, created an almost jaw dropping experience for me as I tried to wrap my head around the story behind this mysterious visitor. You have to see the movie to understand just how creepy/interesting/rugged/cloistered/bearded and straight up incredible this Forrester character is.

Overall this movie was a huge hit. I hope you go see it if you haven't already.