True Grit

When the lights went down just before True Grit started, I thought to myself, “Self, get your expectations in check.  I know you’re all set to love this movie, I know you’re thinking it’s going to be great because the trailer is awesome, you’ve been in love with Matt Damon since the early aughts, and you’ve recently been on a Western kick, but please, don’t let the fact that you’re hoping for a great movie keep you from enjoying a good one, if that’s all this movie turns out to be.”

I know that’s super wordy but really, that’s a complicated emotion to get across. 

Anyway, I didn’t have to worry.  I went in hoping for a great movie and I got one. 

I always feel bad because I’m not super-familiar with Joel and Ethan Coen’s work.  I know they’re some of the best filmmakers working today and their movies should be appointment movies for me.  But for whatever reason, I’ve been kind of haphazard in my approach with them, seeing movies of theirs that appeal to me, ignoring others.  I’ve probably spent more time listening to people talk about Coen Brothers movies than I’ve actually spent sitting in theaters watching their movies.

Because of that, I can’t speak to how this movie fits in with the rest of what they’ve done, because my interaction with their work has been so scattershot and limited.  I can say that this is an exceptionally well-made movie, beautifully shot with several great performances.  I found the story compelling and appreciated the fact that I never quite knew what was going to happen next, which may have a lot to do with the book it's based on, but the filmmakers deserve credit for not telegraphing too much in advance.  I’m not a fan of unpredictability in movies for unpredictability’s sake, but in this case, it worked, because it captured one of the aspects of Westerns I find interesting - how living on the edge of wilderness leaves so much space for things to go badly, and for things and people to be lost and found, or rediscovered and redefined.

And it made me laugh.  All in all: pretty awesome.